The Way I Feel Inside
by TheUltimatePrankster
Summary: AU - Kagome Higurashi was a busy girl. Working two jobs, no wonder she had no time to do much else. Everyone yearns for friendship, though. She decided to surf the internet in her spare time and found herself chatting with a very interesting man.
1. Chapter 1

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter One**_

**A/N: Hello to all. Yes. I'm back. Unfortunately the two fan fictions that I started previously I lost interest in. It had been awhile since I updated them and I'm not sure where either one of the was heading. This one I have completely written-out and typed-out. So I should be updating it frequently. Thanks for all of you who take the time to read. I hope you enjoy it. **

She swung the door open as she entered from long day. Juggling around her arms full of groceries, she managed to get the key out of the lock and shut the door with her foot. Setting the bags down on the kitchen counter, she quickly took of her jacket and hung it on the coat rack by he door. _OK... first things first._ She thought. After she put away the groceries, then she went over and plopped down onto the sofa. She had been aching to do that all day, just lay there in peace and quiet. Working two jobs is a particularly tiring thing. She was forced to wake up early every morning and come home late every night, even on the weekends. A flashing light on her answering machine caught her attention. She reached over and pressed 'play' as an automated voice spoke.

"Sunday, 8:16 A.M." It said then played the message.

"Hi, honey. I probably just missed you, but I would like to talk with you about something. Call me back whenever you get some free time." Kagome sighed. _Free time? What is that, mom?_

"Sunday, 3:11 P.M." The automated voice spoke once again. After it's announcement a different voice played.

"Huh? Oh, hey. This is Hojo. I- um- guess that I'll talk to you later... I guess. Uh, OK. Bye." Kagome rolled her eyes. That boy was persistent. _Oh, yes. I know what you want. Honestly, what possessed me to give him my phone number? _Rolling over she reached for the laptop on the coffee table ahead of her. She had forgotten to log out, so she was already connected to the internet. She opened it to her e-mail. The icon showed her that she had any messages, but they were all in her bulk mail. _All well._ She thought disappointed. She went into the bathroom and started her nightly routine. As she came back out of the bathroom, the computer gave off a little chime. She looked down the hallway to her bedroom, and then into the living room at her computer, and back again. _Oh, hell_. She decided to break her rule and check her e-mail while she was in bed. Walking into the living room, she grabbed the computer and brought it back into her bedroom. It chimed again while she situated herself in her bed, sitting up. After it chimed for a third time, she realized that it wasn't e-mail she was getting. Someone was trying to instant message her. Checking the message confirmed who it was. A smile spread across her face.

"Hey. Did you have a late shift tonight?" and "Are you there?" were the two messages. she tapped her fingers lightly across the keys. What should I say? She began typing.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice ya there." She said, pure sarcasm. It didn't take long for a response.

"Head in the clouds again?" She laughed lightly. Either he ignored the sarcasm or missed it. Both were extremely possible.

"No, but my head was about to be buried in my pillow though, so I can go o dreamland and escape this pitiful existence I have." This response was immediate.

"What? Is it that late?" She scoffed at the comment. His sarcasm was never very subtle, even on the internet. She bit her lower lip, trying to think of a clever response. Instead, she thought of a lyric.

"'I'm having trouble trying to sleep. I'm counting sheep but running low.'" She glanced at the clock as she waited for his response. She really should get to sleep. A chime informed her that he had responded.

"That's one of my favorite songs right there." She smile lightly. She knew that already. He'd told her. She let out a yawn as she type her reply.

"It's been an extremely long day, Inuyasha."

"For me, too. I'm still on the road."

"I think I'd rather be on the road than staying in one spot." She began thinking about her jobs. One as a waitress, the other working at a bookstore. Both of the jobs were low pay and longer shifts. The more she thought of work, the more annoyed she became.

"I have a little more to do that just travel, ya know?" She didn't realize how worked up she had gotten over work. She didn't even realize that she snapped at him as she typed.

"Actually, I don't know. due to our little rules, but all well. Life's tough!" Ah, the rules. There were a couple limits they set for themselves, such as they weren't suppose to say anything specific about certain things such as where they worked, lived, last names, or anything like that. They'd made a couple exceptions along the way or slipped up on accident, but they stuck to those rules.

"I thought we had agreed about it. Is something bothering you about this?" As she wrote her heated reply, she paused in the middle of it. He didn't say or do anything to deserve this. She erased what she had written and started all over again.

"I agree with our rules completely. I'm sorry that I snapped. As I said, it's been a really long day for me and I'm kinda irritable right now. I think I better go to bed before something else I don't mean comes flying out." It took a little while for him to respond.

"It's OK. Have fun in dreamland." Kagome smiled. He had understood and didn't take an offense. Whenever they first started talking, he'd take offense to any little comment she made. They ended so many conversations on a bad note, but lately they began to understand each other finally and they drew closer through that.

"Thanks. Goodnight, Inuyasha." She finished. after logging out and setting her computer on the nightstand next to her bed, she just laid back into her pillows, staring at the ceiling with a smile on her face. That had been the first time they ever instant messaged. Even though it was short and nothing new was said, he became a little more real to her. They'd first spoke to each other through a fan site for her favorite band, Feudal Era. At first, all they talked about was music, but through that they gained some common ground. They began to e-mail each other. He was just as busy as she was as far as work went. The only difference was he was on the road. They had chatted for over a year. He knew what she looked like from her page where she had a picture of herself up, but she had no idea what he looked like. All the pictures on his site had something to do with the Feudal Era. She sighed lightly as she rolled over onto her side, clutching the blankets with her hands._ I wonder what he looks like._ With that thought, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Inuyasha, will you please get over here and help me with this?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hang on a minute." He said as he finished up his conversation with Kagome. "What is it?" Miroku slid the paper across the table to him. He looked at it. "What?"

"Take a closer look." Inuyasha looked at it. "Farther down. A little more... there it is."

"What the hell is this?"

"Our manager threw us a little surprise. He extended the tour for three more shows." Inuyasha ripped the paper into confetti and threw it into the air.

"Sesshomaru..." He growled. "As much as I love preforming, here comes a point where we need to stop and take a little break." No sarcasm, pure honesty.

"Agreed. After playing a festival show and a couple show out of the country, I'd say it's time for at least one day off, but there's something good about this."

"What?"

"The final show is in Santa Cruz. I'll finally be able to see Sango again. It's hard begin away from her for so long. You know I think that it's time to-"

"Santa Cruz?" Inuyasha said, lost in his own thoughts. _That's where Kagome lives. I wonder...  
_  
"Whoa. Earth to Inuyasha. You there?" Miroku said, waving a hand in front of him.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing. you just dazed out there for a second. What caught your attention like that?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Dragging herself, she went in through the front doors. At least she didn't have to work that stupid shift at the diner. As soon as she walked in, she smelled the coffee from the Starbucks located inside, which roused her a little. She followed the smell straight to the counter, where a familiar face awaited her.

"One Irish-creme cappuccino coming up." Kagome nodded, gratefully.

"Working coffee shop again?"

"Just until Yura gets here. Kikyo pulled a no call, no show this morning." Sango said as she handed her the cup of coffee.

"Lovely." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Thanks for my energy in a cup. I'll see you later." Kagome said as she headed to the back of the store. Pushing open the door with the sign that said Employees Only, she saw several boxes stacked. With a sigh, she set down her coffee and grabbed hold of the box-cutter. After slicing the tape off of the first box, she opened the flaps. "I almost forgot this is going to be released tomorrow." She exclaimed to herself, grabbing a book and looking at the inside cover.

"Cheater. It's not even released yet. You're suppose to wait until you buy a copy before you read it." Sango said as she came in behind her.

"Hey, it's a perk of working here." Kagome said with a smile. "I can't believe it's the 16th of the series. I wonder what will be revealed in this one." She said, as she set the book down and began working on separating the shipments. Sango shook her head. Kagome was so into that series, she even convinced her to start reading them.

"I'm glad that you didn't have to work the diner this morning. You looked so beat yesterday."

"I was beat. When I got home, I just wanted to crash." Kagome said, recalling the events of the day past.

"Why didn't you?" Sango asked. Kagome flushed a little bit. She only told one person about her online chats with the mysterious Inuyasha and that was because it slipped. She hadn't told Sango, not because she wasn't trust-worthy. She was and had proved that over and over again. Kagome was worried about her reaction.

"Well, I got wrapped up in a conversation." Sango sensed that Kagome was holding back something.

"Oh, yeah. With who?" She asked, nonchalantly.

"Oh, some guy..." Sango's interest was perked by that.

"Ooh... Kagome Higurashi was caught up in a conversation with a mystery man in the middle of the night and lost valuable sleep over it?" That was a shocker in itself. "Alright, I know it must have been important. I need details. I know you won't lose sleep just to talk with me casually."

"But I talk to you face-to-face everyday multiple times." Sango didn't take the bait.

"No changing the subject on me. Who's the mystery man?" She asked, antsy with curiosity. All of a sudden, she froze. "Wait. It's not Hojo, is it?"

"Hojo? No! Don't get me wrong. He's a nice guy, but... simply not my type." She said, trying to put it delicately. Visibly, Sango was relieved.

"Alright. Well, who is it then?" Kagome swallowed, taking a moment to gather her courage, not knowing exactly how she'd react.

"What do you think about - meeting people online?" Sango paused her work and looked over at her.

"Online?" Kagome nodded. Sango looked back at the work at hand and continued with it.

"Well, I've personally never done that, so I guess I don't really know about it. I know that you really need to be careful and cautious, though. You never know who you may actually be speaking with."

"I know." Kagome said. "We've both been cautious about this. We're on a first name basis only. He knows that I live out here, but doesn't know anything specifically. He knows I work two jobs and that pretty much it as far as personal things go." Sango nodded.

"You've been smart about it. I just wouldn't give out any personal addresses or anything like that."

"Absolutely not. I think that he would have already asked for that kind of thing if he was some pervert or physco, though."

"Where did you meet him?"

"The Feudal Era bulletin board. We were talking about the band and music in general. He's been to 'so many shows he can't count' while I've haven't been to one yet." Sango snapped her fingers.

"I almost forgot. Miroku called me last night. They're adding a couple more shows to the tour and are planning to have the big tour finale right here." Kagome got excited.

"Really? That's awesome. When is it?"

"2 weeks from yesterday."

"Oh, man. I'd buy my ticket and everything, but it's on a Sunday. I'll more than likely have to work."

"I know you might not have it off, but Miroku did happen to send me two backstage passes. The second one is yours if you want it." Sango laughed lightly. She looked like a little child on Christmas Day. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was too excited. "A 'thank you, Sango' will suffice."

"Thank you, Sango." She stammered.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Two** _

**A/N: Hello to all. Yes. I'm back again, in such a short period of time. My start to the story isn't really that building up, so I thought I'd add the second chapter rather quickly and see how the response is. Please review and let me know what you think so far. **

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* * *

**

As soon as she got home, she rushed to her computer. She was anxious to see what he'd say about that. Signing in to her account, a chime went off as a little pop-up box appeared. It informed her that Inuyasha was online right then. _Oh, I can IM him._

"Hey there, Inuyasha." She hit the enter button. The day had been great with her that day. As she waited, she took off her jacket, laying it over the back of the couch. Her heart jolted as it chimed, informing her he responded.

"Hey, you. What's the chances? We were never on at the same time before. Now twice? In two days?!" She laughed lightly.

"You're smothering me." She stated. As she sent that, his response was almost instant.

"Zing! There you are. Much better than our last conversation already." She laughed.

"Are you saying you don't enjoy our conversations anymore?" She said teasingly.

"That really depends on your mood." She expected him to reassure her that he did, that came as a surprise to her.

"Hey now. I was just kidding." She said.

"So was I." He said shortly. She noticed he wasn't typing anything more, so she decided to go on with her news.

"Guess what?" She sent that and din't wait for a response as she finished it up. "A friend of mine informed me today that Feudal Era's big tour finale is coming to my town. She  
also hooked me up with a backstage pass." It took a little while for him to respond, so she thought he was surprised.

"Wow... That's a bit odd." _Odd? _She thought to herself.

"Odd?"

"Yeah. I have backstage access for that show as well." She leaned back, staring at the screen until the words burnt burned into her brain. She didn't realize how long it was until he sent another message. "I heard they were going to go out with a bang."

"So did I." She responded. She bit her lip as she typed in 3 simple words and looked at them. _Should we meet? _She wondered that question herself. Should they? She really wasn't too sure about it herself. In all honesty, she only knew what he told her. She didn't know him, but at the same time, it seemed like she did. They talked almost everyday for over a year. _If he was some sort of weirdo, he would have already tried something, right? _That's what she told Sango, but now that this was staring her in the face, she wasn't sure. The truth is that you never know, but their whole connection, their friendship was all based on chance and risk. Kagome found herself liking that. _Take a risk, Kagome. _She told herself. She hit enter, sending the message out to him. _There's no turning back now. _She smiled lightly, glad that she had done so. Twiddling her thumbs, she waited anxiously for his reply. The magical chime ran out of the speakers once again.

* * *

"Hello?" Miroku said, waving his hand in from of Inuyasha's face. Inuyasha's head shook as he came out of his little daze.

"Huh?" Miroku shook his head.

"What's with you lately? You're beginning to worry me, now that you're 'thinking' more often. What keeps your mind so occupied as of late?" Inuyasha found himself glancing over his shoulder. _Should I tell him? _It didn't take long for him to make up his mind. _Why not?  
_  
"A girl." Miroku just looked at him. _A girl? Who could it be?  
_  
"Please, Please. Don't tell me it was that bimbo from the Music Awards." Inuyasha scrunched his face in disgust.

"No. Hell no!"

"Well, who is it then?"

"You know how I go online to check out the latest rumors about us?" Miroku nodded. "Well, I met her in the bulletin board."

"Does she know who you are?" He shook his head.

"I set up a fan's account. We're on a first name basis only. She sent me a message asking me a question about the band." He chuckled. "She thought I seemed 'knowledgeable' as she put it." Miroku laughed at the irony.

"Were you able to answer it?"

"Of course not. It was so over my head. I had no idea." He said sarcastically. "From there, we just talked about music. She's open-minded to everything. Any music she's willing to give a chance. It's so odd." He said. Miroku saw the look in Inuyasha's eye. He was intrigued by this girl, but it seemed like more than that.

"Sounds like you really like this girl." Miroku threw out there to see what response he'd get. It seemed as if he sobered up out of his little trance.

"Oh, I don't know. She's just a fan girl." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That may be so, but so was Sango in the beginning." Inuyasha shook his head.

"It's not the same. We knew Sango since those days when we'd play in your parent's garage. We know her and have seen her."

"True." Miroku said. An idea popped into his head. "Have you ever thought about meeting her so you can get to know her and see?" He asked, as he picked up his guitar and began strumming a couple of chords.

"I've thought about it." He admitted. "But I don't know. She said she'd try to make the final show."

"That's perfect, then."

"I'm not so sure." Inuyasha said.

"Why?"

"Well, I told her that I was going to be at that show."

"And?"

"She asked if we should meet?"

"So?" Inuyasha threw his hand in the air.

"I don't know. I still don't have any idea what to say to her. I told her that I'd forgotten something and would get back to her later about it."

"That actually may be a good move. A little anticipation will have a good effect. You're probably on her mind, right now." Inuyasha froze. As much as he liked that thought, it scared him as well.

"A _little _anticipation..." He said under his breath. Miroku saw his expression and his silence helped confirmed it, he screwed something up.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing. That's the problem." Miroku looked up from his guitar once again and raised an eyebrow in question. Inuyasha could feel his gaze. "It's been three days."Miroku set down his guitar, walking over to him.

"How often do you talk?"

"Everyday, at least once, but sometimes it's more than that." Miroku stalked over, grabbing the back of his chair, he dragged him and the chair over to the desk, setting it in from of the computer.

"You have to talk to her, Inuyasha. She's probably in a mix of self-doubt and confusion. She probably thinks she put a damper on your relationship." Inuyasha glared at him.

"What makes you think you know so much about women anyways?"

"Fortunately for me, it was a gift bestowed upon me." Miroku said. Then he pointed to the computer screen. "Answer her." Inuyasha stared at the blank screen.

"I don't know what to say."

"Are you going to meet her?" Inuyasha shook his head as if to say I don't know. Miroku understood and sat down next to him.

"Why don't you know?"

"I just- don't know. I mean there's no real reason not to. I mean, the worst thing that could happen is..." He never finished, so Miroku picked up where he left off.

"Is that she doesn't feel the same way?" Inuyasha looked over at him. Miroku was confused by his expression, unsure of what to make of it. It almost startled him whenever Inuyasha reached over and put a hand on his shoulder... that is, under he felt it clench his shirt and begin to pull him out of the room. That was the Inuyasha he knew. He pulled him to the door and shoved him out. "Wait a-" He found himself talking to the shut door in no time.

"Feh. Listen to this guy. 'She doesn't feel the same way.' Ha!" He said to himself, feeling a little better after removing him from the room. He turned around and saw the blank screen again. The text cursor was flashing, awaiting for him to input some text. It seemed to flash over and over again in his mind. He went over and sat in the chair in front of the computer. _What am I going to say? _He tapped his fingers lightly against the keys._OK... I can at least start it. But should i just do a casual 'Hey' or a 'Dear Kagome?'" _He sighed, but just let his hands type the message. He wasn't exactly sure of it's content, but he was going to send it come hell or high water.

* * *

"Hey." She just nodded her greeting as a response. "I take it that there's no word from him yet."

"No." Kagome said as she clocked in. Sango felt bad for her. Kagome didn't even act like that whenever there was trouble with her brother. She must have been attracted to the guy in an extreme degree. Kagome wasn;t one to fall hard or fast when it came to relationships. She didn't find many men that she liked. Above all, Sango heard the defeated tone in her voice. It wasn't just the physical exhaustion, but the mental exhaustion that was bringing her down.

"Even if he doesn't want to meet, you can still come. It's going to be one hell of a show." Kagome knew she was trying to cheer her up. Sango never really used curse words in any sense. Kagome smiled lightly.

"I know. Thanks for inviting me and all." Sango could feel a 'but' coming on, so she spoke before it came.

"Maybe he's just been busy with work. You said he was on the road a lot."

"Yeah, I suppose that's possible. He said it was going to get hectic."

"You see. Chances are that you have an e-mail from mystery man right now." Kagome smiled.

"Thanks, Sango." She smiled and nodded.

"I almost forgot again, Miroku called me and apparently they have a day off between their last two shows. He decided to come ahead of the rest of them. Do you want to have dinner with us?"

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You're not. Trust me. The more, the merrier."

"I guess. Sounds good, I don't know about work though."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about the crappy schedule. Well, it's that Saturday around 7 or so." Kagome smirked lightly.

"I have to admit that I am curious about him. I've heard so much that magazine and gossip columns don't even know., such as his engagement to a certain book-keeper." Sango flushed lightly.

"The long, secret engagement. Well, we talked about that a little. It may not be too long that we're engaged anymore." Sango never heard Kagome squeal in excitement before.

"You're finally getting ready to set a date?" Sango nodded. Kagome hugged her. "Well, congratulations!"

"Thanks. We haven't one specifically in mind. We thought we'd discuss it when we see each other."

"It'll be better talking about it face-to-face rather than over the telephone. You have so much patience. I don't know how you do it."

"Oh, I've had my moments." She laughed lightly. "But I love him. I'd wait forever if he wasn't ready. Besides it has it's benefits as well. Just- we're still keeping it on the down low. Rumor has it that he's dating some super-model." She laughed again. Kagome loved watching her talk about it. The more she thought or spoke about him, the more joy that shined on her face.

"Don't worry. I'll keep it to myself."

* * *

Kagome flipped open the laptop as she reclined back in her bed. He wasn't online, but she did have a e-mail awaiting her. She clicked on the link, silently cursing it for running for slowly. Finally the page loaded. As she scrolled down, her hopes were up. When she saw who the message was from her hopes fell, but at the same time she was excited. Her brother didn't e-mail her very often. She opened the message.

Hey Kagome. How's it going? Sorry that it's been awhile. Mom told me about your work. That must be hard, but don't worry to much about it. I bet things will start looking up soon. They always do. She also told me she wasn't able to get a hold of your over the phone. So I'll ask for myself. I'm going to be coming home for a little bit next weekend. I'm really hoping that we can hang out together like we used to if it's at all possible. Anyways, I hope to hear from you soon, either way.  
Your bro,  
Souta

Kagome read the message a second time. She was happy for him. He seemed to be reverting back to his old self since a hard time he had. Going away to college was hard enough, but he met this girl and fell in love. He was explicitly happy with her. 6 months later, he proposed to her. 3 weeks after that, he went to his dorm after class to find her with her hands down his roommate's pants. His break-up devastated him. He didn't call home, his grades slipped. It made him sick mentally and physically. The family hadn't heard from him in months and he usually called once a week. Three months later, he called Kagome out of the blue. He was wasted, babbling nonsense for quite a while, then he got angry when she asked him if he was drinking. After he got that out, he broke down and cried, spilling into his confession. Kagome read the message again. It was short, but hopeful. Compared to that phone call, that message was so much better.

She felt torn. There was the concert or her brother. Seconds later, the latter won out over the former. Family came before pleasure. Simple as that. She knew Sango would understand, she knew about what happened with Souta, but Kagome dreaded telling her._ I'll jump in the shower before I call her. _A twinge of regret washed over her. _All well. Things happen.  
_  
After she finished up in the bathroom, she sat on the couch, staring at the telephone. _Well, maybe I'll write Souta back first._ A glance at her laptop told her she had a new message in her inbox. She clicked on it and saw it was from him. _Thank God. I didn't push him away. _Clicking the message, it promptly opened.

Dearest Kagome,  
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I guess I probably left you hanging there. Yes, I'd love to meet up with you and I'm honored that you'd want to do so. And what better place than a concert? How about we meet up backstage? I'll make sure to wear a Cure t-shirt. I"m looking forward to seeing you.  
Can't wait until we meet,  
Inuyasha

Kagome slumped against the couch. _No. This isn't happening to me. _She re-read that message again and again. After the fourth time, her head went into her hands. _What should I do now?  
_

* * *

She tried, but she couldn't do both. After a phone call, she learned Souta was coming in Saturday evening, stay all day Sunday, and leave Monday morning. There was absolutely no way they'd have another chance while he was there. No way she would be able to manage work, the concert, and Souta either. She managed to convince her boss at the bookstore to let her have Saturday off, but her boss at the diner wasn't lenient at all._ I tried. There's nothing else that I can do. _She picked up the phone and dialed Sango's number. She picked up after the second ring.

"City morgue. You stab 'em. We slab 'em."

"What if it was someone who doesn't appreciate that little job like I do?"

"If that's appreciation, I don't want to see you excited." Kagome laughed. "So, what's going on?"

"A lot actually. Listen. I've tried everything I could, but I can't make the concert."

"Is everything alright? It's not work, is it?"

"No. For once, it's not work. Souta's coming in and Sunday is our only chance to hang out before he goes back."

"Oh, that's good news then. He's doing better?"

"Yeah. He seems to be."

"Have you heard form Mr. Online?" Kagome laughed lightly to herself. Usually it was 'mystery man.'

"Yeah, he seemed to be glad to have the chance to meet."

"Ouch. I'm sorry. Have you gotten around to responding?"

"Not yet. I'm scared to tell him, Sango. I just don't know what to say or how he'll react."

"Don't worry to much about it. It seems like he's an understanding man."

"Yeah, he is. He does have a tendency to over-react at first, though. I guess I better get this nasty, little job out of the way."

"Alright. You can still make it to dinner on Saturday, right?"

"So far, things are working out for that."

"That's good. Well, I guess I'll let you get to that e-mail."

"Alright. See ya." She waited to make sure Sango hung up before hanging-up herself. Turning around, she looked at her computer.

"Damn it." She swore whole-heartedly. She hated being the bearer of bad news. It was the most difficult letter she'd ever have to write. With a deep breath, her fingers tapped the keys. _Here it goes...  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Three** _

**A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and PMs. I appreciate them a lot. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well. As I mentioned before, the entire story is both written out in my notebooks and typed out on the computer, so I'm able to update quite frequently. The only thing I would hold back for is anticipation... (or if I'm unable to reach a computer.) I'm already considering doing a sequel. I'm not sure if I will yet or not, though. Thanks again for your support. **

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"Shit! shit, shit, shit, shit..." It continued on and on. The more he read, the faster he said it. Miroku looked over from his bunk to Inuyasha, who was reading his e-mail.

"What is this shit-fest about?" Miroku asked, though he knew already. He set his book down as Inuyasha took a deep breath.

"She can't come. Something came up on Sunday and she can't make it." Miroku sat up.

"Calm down. It's not the end of the world. You can meet her afterward or something, right?"

"No. Sunday was all booked up for her. Besides, the show won't end until late and then we have our fans with backstage passes to meet and her work probably has her working first thing in the morning."

"We don't have any backstage passes for that show. I gave the only two to Sango." Inuyasha calmed down visibly. He shut this computer and set it to the side. He rolled over on his bunk to face the wall. He just laid there silently. If only 2 backstage passes were given out to Sango, how did she get one? That's when it occurred to him. _Sango had 2 passes and Kagome received her pass from a friend. Only two passes. _Inuyasha felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, things could work out after all... If they received help from the rock star and front-man of Feudal Era, "Dogboy" Takashi.

* * *

"Hello there." A box popped up on her screen as she browsed through a fan site.It was from Inuyasha. She felt a tinge of guilt. They had perfect plans, until she went an ruined it for the both of them. 

"Hey. Haven't heard from ya in a while. Thought you were ignoring me." It didn't take long for a reply.

"I tinkered with that thought. lol" Kagome felt the 'lol' was out of place. He probably had considered it.

"I wouldn't have complained if you did."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Take it anyway that you want it." Kagome smiled lightly. This was a little more like their conversations. Of course, they had both serious and goofy conversations. Besides music, they argued about pretty much everything. Their conversations always required sarcasm and wit to keep up. This actually helped her out. It kept her open minded, so she could side all aspects of the thing in question. All angles and perspectives were covered.

"I was just wanting to let you know I'll be extremely busy next week especially. I have work and a side-project of my own going on and it needs to be complete by the time of the concert. Sorry that you can't make it to that." Kagome shook her head and began typing.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing for screwing it all up."

"No, you didn't. Something came up. It happens. Anyways, I probably won't be on a whole lot so don't take it personally if I don't get back to you. I'll do my best."

"I understand."

"I knew you would. I really must be going now."

"Alright. Bye, Inuyasha."

"See ya, Kagome."

* * *

"Hey." Sango said, humming lightly as she came into work.

"Hey. How's it looking?" Kagome asked as she clocked in.

"Everything's going great. Only a small shipment today." Kagome laughed. The closer to the date they'd meet again, the more excitement built up in Sango and today was the day. "So, things are still clear for tonight?"

"Yes. I get off around five. Then, I need to go home to get ready and things."

"Alright. We can pick you up if you'd like." Sango offered as she began whistling a tune.

"Sounds like a plan. I'm not sure where we're even going." Kagome said.

"Oh, I'm not sure where it is. Miroku knows about it. It's a place downtown called Butterflies." Kagome groaned.

"Butterflies? If I remember, that place is expensive."

"Miroku said it was on the expensive side, but he said that he was going to pay the bill."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I'll feel kind of odd."

"Seriously, don't even worry about it. He's just got off tour and will blow the money one way or another. I'd rather he do it while we're celebrating than on some new gadget that we really don't need." Kagome laughed. It sounded like they were already married.

* * *

"Alright. Break time." Sango stated, looking at the clock. It was around 3 or so. They decided to pick up some coffee from the front of the store instead of going somewhere. After they ordered, they took their beverages and sat down at one of the tables in the little cafe. Kagome pulled a book out. Sango laughed.

"Finally bought the book, huh?"

"Yeah, it's getting more and more suspenseful. I have a hard time putting it down." Kagome said. As she lowered the book, she noticed a man looking in the store from outside. He looked suspicious. He wore some regular jeans with a t-shirt, bur over it was a leather jacket. He wore a very out of place-hat that reminded her of a top hat. Along with the outfit, he had a dark pair of shades. Kagome could feel his gaze upon them. She groaned.

"What is it?" Sango asked.

"Nothing. Just a window shopper." Sango knew what that meant. With a roll of the eyes, she made sure her back was to him, not even looking.

"Let him look. I'm taken." Sango said. She refused to look.

"Yeah, but where does that leave me?" Kagome said and they laughed together at the comment. Kagome went back to reading her book, but felt extremely uncomfortable knowing that he was there. She raised the book to where it blocked her view of him. Sango noticed the gesture.

"Still there I take it." Kagome nodded.

"Hopefully, he got the point now." Sango took another sip of her coffee. After a moment, Kagome lowered her book to see that he wasn't there anymore. She set the book down on the table instead. "What an idiot." Sango was highly amused.

"That goes to show your general view of men. That is, with the exception of one." Kagome took the bait.

"Hey. That same goes for you so no criticism, if you please." Kagome, then, saw the man watching toward them. He was coming up from behind Sango. She didn't have any time to warn Sango and was surprised that the first move he did was hug her from behind. Almost immediately, Sango struck out, knocking the ridiculous hat off of his head, revealing his long, silver hair. Sango turned around, ready to square off with the devil himself, only to completely drop her defense and gasp in surprise.

"What a way to greet an old friend!" The man said, scooping down to pick up his hat. _No wonder he's wearing the hat. _Kagome thought. The silver hair was a dead give-away. It was 'Dogboy' Takashi of the Feudal Era. He managed to get his hair back up into the confines of the hat once again. By this time, Sango had gotten over the shock.

"I didn't know that you were coming ahead of the rest as well." She moved to hug him, but he put his hands up in defense and took a step back. His eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Wait a minute. What are you planning on doing, lady? First you hit, then you hug?" He paused for a moment. "Actually, that's how your relationship with Miroku worked too." She laughed lightly.

"You can't even compare the two." The rock star smiled. Letting go of his antics, he hugged her. Sango looked around behind him, looking for someone else. He shook his head.  
"We've been having problem with the guitar tech we hired for this tour. It was his turn to deal that - Oh, I'm sorry. Who's this?" He asked turning to Kagome.

"Oh, this is Kagome. Kagome, I think you already know who this is." She nodded.

"Of course, the hair gave it away. I'm a big fan of your music." He swallowed. _It's her... _He didn't realize how he was staring at her. He quickly shook his head and covered it up.

"Sorry. I just dazed out. I forgot about something before I took off this morning. Kagome, is it? Nice to meet you." He noticed the book in her hand and smiled lightly. It was a perfect conversation opener with her. "Aha, good taste in books. I started up that series recently. A good friend of mine got me into them." Kagome smiled.

"Yeah, they're really good, but I'll give you a warning. They get extremely suspenseful."

"So, I've noticed. I was reading before a show and by the time it came to preform, I gotten to an extremely interesting part. The whole shoe I was wondering what would happen next." Sango looked at him, curiously.

"I don't recall you _ever_ reading a book."

"Well, you never were around when I did." He snipped. Kagome shook her head in amusement. You could tell they were good friends by the way they carried on. Sango was about to reply, when she noticed the time.

"Kagome, we're late." Kagome took a look at her watch.

"We're cutting it close, anyways." Sango turned to him.

"It was good to see you again. Though, I can't say that it's been long enough." Inuyasha grinned.

"Actually it has been way too long. Miroku doesn't put up near as good of an argument."

"Are you going to be at dinner?" He nodded.

"Count on it." She smiled, happy that he'd be coming.

"Kagome's going to be coming as well." He turned and looked at her.

"Oh, yeah? Great. I'll see you both tonight, then." They nodded. "Nice meeting you Kagome."

"Nice to meet you too." Inuyasha nodded, turning to Sango.

"Sango, seeing you again is like an evil flashback." She glared at him.

"Get out of here before you're forcibly evicted you from the store." He smirked.

"I'd like to see you try, but since we don't need any further publicity, I'll take my leave." He tipped his hat and walked away. They could see the extra special strut he had. Sango rolled her eyes.

"That man!" Sango said, turning to Kagome.

"Ready?"

* * *

As she got ready, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous about the whole situation. The two singers of her favorite band were going to be at dinner tonight. Even though she hadn't been receiving responses, she e-mail Inuyasha everyday. She wasn't able to tell him about being at dinner without giving away Sango's and Miroku's connection, but she did tell him how she met 'Dogboy' Takashi in her bookstore. As she applied her make-up, she heard a knock on the door.

"Hang on a minute!" she called out as she finished applying her eye-liner. _That can't be Sango. It's way to early. _She darted to the door. She opened it up, revealing her little brother, Souta, luggage and all. "Souta!" She said in surprise, though it was a pleasant surprise. She immediately hugged him. He gave a quick hug back.

"Hey - uh- do you mind if we get out of the hallway?" Kagome laughed lightly and then laughed even harder when she saw his flushed face as she pulled away.

"Sure. Come on in. What're you doing here?" She asked as she helped him with his luggage. They entered her apartment and he used the foot to shut the door behind them.

"Can't a guy come by and say hello?" Kagome gave him a skeptical look.

"Sure, just usually when you drop in to say hello you don't have all your luggage with you." He shrugged.

"OK. Fine. For some reason, Mom and granddad aren't home. I don't have the key to the house anymore and didn't know exactly how long they'd be gone."

"Oh. They probably weren't expecting you so early. Make yourself comfortable around here. You're always welcome." He thanked her and sat down on a recliner. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm alright." Kagome sat down on the couch.

"So, how's everything going with you?" He leaned back, putting his hands behind his head.

"It's going. Painfully slow, but it is forward progress. I've decided to switch universities."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Staying there is just to much. There's too many reminders. I can't take anymore so I'm leaving it." Kagome knew he was starting to dwell on the past, so she thought of a way to change his train of thought, renew a dead argument between them.

"So, where are you going to go? Yale or Harvard?" Souta cracked a smile for the first time in quite a while.

"I don't think I'm college material." He said as he did in high school back when they argued about if he should go to college. Kagome smiled. "Actually, I'm going to the one here. I miss home."

"I'm glad to hear that. Maybe we'll see you more than once every couple months." Souta opened his mouth to say something when the telephone rang. "Excuse me." Kagome said as she grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kagome." She glanced at the clock. She didn't realize how much time past, but it still wasn't quite time yet.

"Hey, Sango. What's up?"

"I'm running a little bit late. I might be 30 minutes later." Kagome heard someone else over the phone. It was a deeper, masculine voice. Sango whispered something to him that sounded suspiciously like 'Stop that.'

"Well, I just got a little surprise. Souta showed up a few minutes ago. I"m not exactly sure-" Souta cut her off.

"Go ahead with whatever plans you have." Kagome nodded to show that she heard him, but still felt torn between the two. Meanwhile, Sango was speaking with the man on the other end of the phone.

"Bring Souta along, too. The more, the merrier."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, yeah. It might give him a little pick-me-up." Kagome sighed.

"Thank you for not making me make a choice there. Thank both of you."

"Both?"

"You and Miroku." She heard Sango start to say something, but stop short.

"How did you know? Kagome's mind came across two options. She chose the lesser of the two evils.

"You've never been over 10 minutes late to anything. Something had to keep you preoccupied."

"Kagome! I can't believe the insinuation that came out of your mouth."

"Actually, I didn't insinuate anything so something must be happening. Never underestimate me. Well I better get ready. See you later." She said all in one breath. She hung up before Sango could respond. Kagome smirked lightly.

"If Sango is a little mad at me when she gets here, I deserve whatever's coming to me." Souta nodded.

"That's my big sis." He chuckled a little bit. "All those years of endless bickering trained us both well, didn't it?" She nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to be going out with Sango and a couple of her buddies from high school tonight. She told me to bring you along if you want to come." He looked down.

"No offense, but hanging out with a bunch of girls isn't exactly the most appealing thought to me right now."

"Oh, it's not like that. Her buddies are guys. It's just going to be four of us."

"Oh, so you're going on a date?" He said, looking over at the dress she had hanging over the back of the couch.

"No. Nothing like that. I don't exactly know these guy. I met one of them earlier today, but only know them by reputation."

"Oh..." _What the hell is she thinking? Going out with a bunch of guys she don't even know. They may be perverts. _"...I guess it could be fun." Kagome smiled, grateful  
that he was willing to go. "Is it a fancier type-of place?" She nodded and then the thought donned on her.

"You wouldn't happen to have a suit in your luggage, would you?"

"Actually, That's all my clothes except for a week's worth and I don't intend on wearing a suit to class. I'll be moving the rest of my thing next time I come."

"Oh, I see. What a coincidence, huh?" He nodded. "I'll take my thing to my bedroom so you can take over the bathroom to get ready." She said. He smirked as he grabbed the suitcase he'd need and followed her to the bathroom.

"Too bad that you couldn't have done that a long time ago. We wouldn't have fought so much as kids."

* * *

The doorbell rang out once again. Souta looked over his shoulder at the door. "Um, Kagome, are you ready?"

"Almost. Will you get the door for me?" There was a knock at the door.

"Uh... I guess so." He felt a little awkward answering her door, but he did so. A couple stood there.

"Sango?" Souta asked. She turned to him.

"Souta? Oh my goodness. You've grown a bit since I last saw you." He flushed.

"Uh... thanks."

"How're you doing?"

"Alright for now." He then turned to the man with her and stopped short.

"Miroku Hentai?" The man smiled and nodded.

"In the flesh." Sango smacked his shoulder.

"Don't make a spectacle of yourself. My guess is his sister didn't tell him who was coming and he's surprised." Miroku rubbed his shoulder in the spot where she hit him.

"Can't a guy make a joke once in a while?" She just rolled her eyes. Souta just stood there, dumbfounded.

"You could have invited then in, Souta." Kagome said, coming up from behind him.He nodded dumbly, opening the door for them. Sango patted his shoulder as she passed. Miroku held his hand out. Souta shook it.

"Hey, buddy. Thanks." Souta shook himself out of the little daze he was in.

"No problem." He said, closing the door behind them. Sango immediately went over to Kagome, telling her how she looked in the dress and complimenting her. After they got their girlish chit-chat out, Sango turned.

"Miroku, this is Kagome. Kagome, Miroku." She introduced, gesturing to each person as she said their name.

"At long last. I've heard so much about you, Miroku." She said, reaching how her hand to shake his.

"All good things, I hope." He replied, jestingly. Kagome put on a serious face.

"I must speak with you about this super-model business." Kagome said. Miroku laughed.

"Sh... she doesn't know about that." He said, turning to Sango. She rolled her eyes at the both of them. Miroku put an arm around her waist, pulling her to his side.

"And you've met my brother, Souta." The two men nodded at each other.

"Sorry about spacing out." Souta said. "I didn't know that you and Sango were-" He was going to say acquainted until he saw the ring on Sango's finger. "-engaged?" Miroku smiled. Sango did as well, leaning against his sturdy frame.

"Not for too much longer, but yeah. It's kind of a secret right now though. So uh-"

"You're secret's safe with me." Miroku's cell phone went off.

"Excuse me a moment." He said going out to the hallway. Sango rolled her eyes once again.

"That thing is constantly going off." She said.

"The pain of popularity." Kagome offered. Sango shrugged.

"I guess so. But it's getting on my last nerves." Miroku came back in.

"Sorry. We better get going. Uh, 'Dogboy' is already at the restaurant."

"He's on time?" Sango asked. He nodded. "Wow! That's unusual."

"It is odd." Miroku said in agreement.

"Well, I guess we better go. You're ready, Souta?" He just nodded again. Kagome saw the similar expression. He was probably surprised that 'Dogboy' Takashi was the other  
guy coming. Kagome grabbed her nearby purse and jacket for the occasion. "Alright. Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Four** _

**A/N: Well, it's time for an update. Please continue leaving your thoughts by way of reviews. Much appreciated!! **

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* * *

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Butterflies... How ironic that was the name of the restaurant. He hadn't had such butterflies since the seventh grade. For over fifteen minutes, he sat there alone and tried to gain control over them. He seceded in suppressing them for a while, but his efforts were in vain ass soon as he saw them arrive. They came flooding back in double the effort when he set eyes on her. She was stunning. The dress shimmered because of the sparkles on it as she moved across the floor. It hugged her body in all the right places, accenting her curves just right. He rose from his seat as they arrived at the table. A certain quiver ran through his body as he noticed another man was added to their party. He was whispering something into her ear. When Kagome laughed, he felt paralyzed. _Who is that? She never said anything about having a boyfriend to me. Does she? _As they came closer, he got a better look. His mind was relieved. They looked too much alike to be mistaken for a couple. It was her brother, it just had to be. He resisted the urge to shake his head. _The poor fellow..._ Of course, he couldn't show his sympathy. 'Dogboy' had no idea of who he was or what happened to him.

"About time, Miroku. What caused you to be so late?" His tone made no room for doubt about what he meant and what he was accusing him of doing. Miroku refused to bite the bait.

"Just picking up the rest of the crew." He commented, gesturing to the two siblings. "This is-"

"Kagome." He finished for him. "We met previously." He nodded his greeting to her and she returned the favor. Sango laughed lightly at the thought of their previous encounter.

"You know, the hat might go better with this outfit." He smirked.

"Sorry to disappoint, but it was knocked off my head." They began to start up a friendly argument whenever Miroku jumped in.

"Alright, children. Stop it before I separate you. Jeez..." Souta shuffled his feet. He felt extremely out of place now that he was there.

"Sorry, Souta. We didn't forget about you, bud. Those two been doing that since high school days." Inuyasha looked up. The name confirmed it for him. It was her brother.

"I'm sorry! We do tend to do that a lot." Sango said. "This is Souta. Souta, this is-" Sango seemed to choke for a moment, so he stepped up.

"I should have introduced myself earlier."

"No need. I know who you are. It's a privilege."

"I'm just another face on the street. Nothing special." Kagome smiled at that. Among famous people, that attitude was a rare thing. There table was small, but it was the best in the house. Butterflies was actually two stories at the top of a building. The top floor was actually the rooftop. They were set at the table nearest, but still a safe distance from the edge of the building. The view was spectacular from up there. It was a warm summer night with a slight breeze. If they didn't have the lights strung across the roof, the stars would show brilliantly. The downtown was all lit up, the nightlife beginning to start up. They had the table set with a chair on each side, but since there was an extra one side had two chairs. Miroku and Sango set there. Kagome sat near Sango. Souta took the seat across from Kagome and Inuyasha sat across from Miroku and Sango, next to the two siblings.

"Hello." The waitress said as she came up, setting menus in front of them. "What would you like to drink tonight?" Everyone began looking at their menus. Miroku looked at the waitress.

"Could you give us a little time?"

"Sure." Kagome looked over and saw Souta immediately set the alcohol menu aside. She was glad of that.

"Don't go cheap on me. I have the bill tonight." Miroku said.

"Even me?" Inuyasha said. Of course, it was a dare and since high school they have an unspoken rule that all dares had to be accepted. Miroku bit back his pride.

"Sure." He said, not meaning to have such a high voice as he said so. He cleared his throat. "Although, I was referring to someone in particular..." He said looking at Souta. Souta knew what he meant.

"No alcohol for me. Thanks." Miroku shrugged. Souta felt Kagome's gaze so he looked over at her. Kagome nodded and winked at him. He simply smiled back at her, knowing she'd approve of that decision. Inuyasha watched the little exchange out of the corner of his eye. He was glad that he was doing better on that front as well.

"Some singers would drink to enhance their performance, but it's just not right in my opinion. The shows are about the music. Why dull yourself? So I don't drink on tour, so it's no alcohol for me, either." Miroku already knew that little rule Inuyasha set up for himself., but he almost felt guilty. Neither one of the men were drinking that night. Miroku looked down at his menu. Inuyasha saw the longing look on his face.

"You're entitled, Miroku. Order what you want."

"I could, but I'm driving tonight." Inuyasha didn't have to stop and think about it. It just occurred to him, but he left a moment so it seemed like he did have to think about it.

"I can drive them home. Go ahead." Miroku opened his mouth to say something, but the waitress came back and cut him off.

"Are you ready to order?" Miroku nodded, looking over at Sango.

"Dry martini straight up, right?" She nodded at him. A soft smile played of her lips. He still remembered the little things like that. Miroku nodded to confirm the order to the waitress, who scribbled it down.

"A mytie, right?" Sango said before he could order. He looked over at her with a little laugh.

"Yep." He said again confirming the order. Kagome looked down the menu.

"Wait a minute." Inuyasha said. "Before you order, I have to take a guess as to what it'll be."

"Ha! Five-hundred bucks says you can't get that right." Inuyasha grinned. He didn't know that he already knew Kagome's favorite drink.

"You're on." He leaned toward the middle of the table to Souta and Miroku and whispered his guess. They both nodded. "Alright, go ahead and order."

"I'll have a long island." Inuyasha smirked and rose his hands in the air, triumphantly. Miroku's jaw dropped.

"Damn." He quickly looked over at Sango, who was just giving a look. "Oops, excuse me, Sango dear." He said quickly before looking back at Inuyasha. "How did you know?" Inuyasha gave his order to the waitress before speaking.

"That's the secret. You can pretty much determine what someone will order by personality and mood."

"Right." Miroku said skeptically. "So, you knew that I'd order a mytie?"

"Yes, but I know what you order anyways. I knew Sango would order something strong." Kagome felt an odd feeling rise while all of this was going on. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't pin-point what it was. It felt like she'd known them for quite a while. Something told her to call his bluff.

"How'd did you know she'd want something strong?" She asked.

"She's marrying him, isn't she?" Souta couldn't help but laugh a little. Kagome shook her head. No one could tell if it was in amusement or because of his reply.

"Alright then. Prove it." Inuyasha just looked at her. _She's definitely the same person I talk with online. She's already challenging me.  
_  
"How?"

"If Souta ordered something, what would it be?" He looked at Souta.

"I'd need to get a little information on him."

"You don't know too much about me, but you were able to guess mine."

"On the contrary, I know quite a bit about you," Everyone had a different expression. It went from skeptical, to curious, to confused, to suspicious. The latter being on her brother's face, he felt the need to clarify.

"Let me explain." He took a deep breath. _That's what I get for trying to impress her. Damn... How am I going to get out of this one? _"OK. Well, for starters, you're friends with Sango. I know the type of people that she gets along with well. Free-spirited, probably sarcastic, yet a fun person to be around. You probably have one hell of a sense of humor." He felt safe with that, but decided to continued. "When we first met, you were reading a murder-mystery series. That would mean you like challenges and you like to try to think things out. You took a step back whenever we started talking, which means you have a shy streak, but you joined the conversation and started warming up to me. You're open-minded. And..." He paused for a moment and leaned in, putting his elbows on the table. "... you have good taste in music." They all were throughly impressed, it hit her straight on the nose. Kagome tried not to show it and laughed.

"Why? Because I listened to your music?" She asked, curiously.

"Partly, but no. That's not why I say so. So far, you've tapped your hand to the good songs that the band over there is playing." Kagome finally gave him a reaction to his diagnosis, nodding that he hit it on the head. Miroku looked at him. Inuyasha was an observant person, but not that observant. Something was going on and he intended to figure out what it was. Inuyasha felt good about his skill now. He turned to Souta. "May I ask you a couple questions?" Souta raised his hands in the air.

"I don't want you to know too much about me." They laughed at his response.

"I can already tell quite a bit. You're a quiet guy, the private type, but not so much that you're a loner. My guess is that you open up to those who have your trust. And when you open up to someone, you open up completely. " Souta looked down. _That's for damn sure. I opened up to the wrong person too. _Kagome saw Souta's expression. It wasn't a good thing.

"What else would you need to know about him?"

"I could guess accurately off of that, I think. A couple of simple questions would help though."

"Wait a minute. There should be some limit here." Miroku said. "You shouldn't need much information since you can probably guess accurately." Kagome nodded in agreement.

"Are you alright with this, Souta?" Sango jumped in.

"If your uncomfortable, just say so."

"It's alright." Souta said. "Shoot." Inuyasha glanced around the table.

"What's the limit?"

"Three." Miroku said, testingly. Inuyasha nodded.

"Alright. First off, have any hobbies?"

"Music." Inuyasha smirked. Short, curt answers, trying not to give away too much information.

"School, working, or both?"

"School for now." Inuyasha nodded. For this next question, he looked him straight in the eye.

"Open up to someone recently?" Souta was taken back by that. It caught him off-guard, but he answered it anyways.

"Yes." Inuyasha sat back.

"So, what's your diagnosis, Dr. Takashi?" Sango asked, laughingly.

"Well, he's the simple type. Nothing to complex. Although he's on vacation and wouldn't have to pay for it, he still wouldn't go expensive. Probably just a beer or two, depending on how much we get on his nerves." Kagome laughed.

"You have to admit. It's pretty sharp." Souta looked Inuyasha in the eye. Two can play that game.

"You're not the only one who can guess. Despite your bad ass reputation, I can tell deep down you're considerate and kind. You love music with a passion, but not the publicity and attention that comes with it. Like most guys, you like to show-off a little bit. Not publicly to make a spectacle of yourself, but with those who you feel can be trusted. And on a second note, I'd be ordering that second beer by now, because you're expecting a text or phone call and keep flipping the phone open and closed in your pocket and the clicking is getting to me. The message your expecting is far from a business call as well." Everyone just stared, curious about this game they started among themselves. Inuyasha simply clapped.

"Well-played." He said honestly. Despite what he went through, he could tell that he'd be alright. It'll take a while for the heartache to end, but it'd come. Inuyasha clapped Souta on the shoulder. In that moment, they passed each others' tests with flying colors.

* * *

As they ate, they chit-chatted among themselves, but surprisingly, most of the conversation was on the boys' side. As soon as they learn Souta played guitar, it was dominated by conversation on music. Then, it went different places. Miroku had a realization hit.

"Oh, so you're the friend that Sango saved the other pass for." He said, referring to Kagome. Inuyasha sighed silently. _Here it goes...  
_  
"Yeah, she offered it to me." He noted the disappointment in her tone, but if it was because of missing the concert or meeting her online friend, he couldn't tell.

"Oh, so we'll have you in the audience tomorrow?" Miroku asked. Kagome shook her head.

"No. I had already had some plans for tomorrow." Souta looked over at her.

"I hope that I wasn't the plans." Kagome looked at her glass and began running her finger around the rim. That confirmed his thoughts. "You've got to be kidding me. Go! I know you'll have fun."

"But-" Inuyasha couldn't help it at this point. He waved his hands.

"Whoa, whoa whoa. Hold on. Souta, you have to be there too. I don't mean to sound egotistical or anything, but it's going to be a damn good show." Souta was speechless. His tone booked no argument.

"I don't have a ticket."

"We'll find a way to smuggle you in." Kagome laughed at the thought of them stuffing Souta into a guitar case and trying to carry him in.

"Well... thank you." Inuyasha sat back.

"That settles that."

"I meant to make the show at the Joint this tour, but- uh- things didn't work out." He was suppose to go with her. Kagome had dazed off by this time. She was really going? She would be able to meet him after all? Suddenly, she felt that same old feeling of being torn again. She couldn't place her finger on why, though. A slower melody drifted in the air.  
Miroku looked over at Sango.

"Well, my dear, the night is still young. May we indulge ourselves in a little dance?" She was well familiar with those antic, but missed them so dearly while he was gone. She played along.

"Yes, good sir. If you'd be so kind as to escort me." He stood, taking hold of her hand. As she stood, he bowed over it, pressing his lips against it. Sango's face reddened, not out of embarrassment, but because all eyes seemed to be on them at the moment. He stood erect and led her to the dance floor, leaving the three of them at the table. Souta turned.

"Thanks again about the show. Um... how exactly is that going to work?" Inuyasha shrugged.

"Not sure of that yet myself. I'll work out the details in the morning."

"I don't want to sound like just another fan, but you've been a huge influence on my band for a long time."

"Oh, so you're in a band?"

"Yeah. Well, when I left for college, I left them short a guitarist, but I'm going to be moving back soon and they saved my place for me and wanted me back."

"Tip of advice. Don't try to sell-out. Building a fan base is more important at the start. Play as many gigs as you can to get the fans interested." Souta nodded.

"Thanks for the tip." Inuyasha turned to Kagome, who was dazed off.

"Hey. Everything alright?" She seemed to snap out of it.

"Oh, yes. Sorry." She said, smiling to confirm what she said. He felt himself melt away inside. Outwardly, he simply nodded and turned. She watched the people dance. It didn't take long for her foot to begin tapping the beats. Souta followed her gaze and knew she loved to dance.

"OK, Kagome. I know you. I may be rusty, but I should be able to keep up with the rest." Inuyasha looked between the two of them

"You like to dance?" _That's something I didn't know. _She nodded.

"It's a guilty pleasure. I'm not very good at it." Souta turned.

"You don't mind sitting her alone, do you?" Inuyasha just gave him a look. Souta raise his hand in defense. "Just trying to be considerate." They stood up, and Inuyasha follow suit as she did. As Kagome stepped forward, she forgotten her purse had been on the floor next to her feet. The strap began to tangle around the heel of her shoe, causing her to trip.

"Whoa..." Inuyasha said, moving to support her. Instead, she fell into his chest. She used his as a support as she untangled it. He looked down at her, watching her work at it. As she finished, she looked up. Their eyes seemed to lock immediately. Kagome felt a zing rush to her stomach. She couldn't say she recognized those eyes. They were rather unique, their rich gold was different than in pictures in a magazine. What was this feeling? She felt as if she knew him well, but they'd never met before today.

"Uh..." She said as she broke away. "...thank you."

"You're welcome." He said as he caught a hold of himself. He sat back down when she took Souta's arm and he lead her to the dance floor.

"Well, today's full of surprises." Souta said as they made their way over. "How long have you know them?"

"I just met both of them today."

"Really?" She nodded. "I thought maybe you and..." He dropped off. Right in step with the beat, Souta twirled her. Kagome laughed.

"No way."

"Oh, well you were telling me about how you talked with that guy online and you two seemed rather comfortable with each other."

"I can see where your coming from, but no. There's no way it could ever be possible."

"Oh, I wouldn't count on that. I've seen the way he looks at you, especially when you laugh. I'm not saying that anything will become of it, but I definitely see a possibility." Kagome looked over at the man in question, who was fiddling with his phone. _Not a chance. _She thought to herself. As the song came to an end, they both stepped back, clapping for the band. Others began to follows suit. Kagome looked around. She did notice he was laughing at something that he must have read on his phone. "Well, I guess we should sit back down." Souta said. As they made their way, he looked up. He had a very satisfied look on his face, Kagome found herself curious what could make him so thrilled. Respectfully, he put his phone away.

"Sorry. I just received a message for a friend of mine. It's handy to have e-mail on your phone. It makes it easy to keep up with things on the road." Miroku has escorted Sango back in the middle.

"Do you really have to check your e-mail now, Dogboy?" His annoyance was obvious. Inuyasha looked at him, wondering what aggravated him. Miroku looked back and forth from the dance floor to Kagome. Inuyasha knew what he was getting at.

"Sorry. I don't dance." He muttered across the table to him. Miroku stared him down.

"You dance all the time at shows." He said, under his breath.

"My stage persona is a little different from me." Inuyasha stated.

"Agreed, but I don't care at the moment. You can stumble all over yourself for all I care. Just go dance!" Inuyasha glared at him.

"I can't right now." Somehow, their entire argument went unnoticed by the others. Miroku didn't realize that he had leaned over the table until he straightened up. He cleared his throat as he stood up.

"Excuse me a moment. I need to talk with my friend over there in private." He said, gesturing to Inuyasha. Inuyasha nodded and stood up as well. They headed off toward the bathroom area.

"What was that about?" Kagome asked.

"My guess would be work. I told Miroku that I'd strangle him if the breathed a word about the show at dinner."

* * *

"What the hell is your problem? I would think you could at least entertain Kagome for a song."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. You just don't understand what's-"

"And you checked your e-mail while waiting!"

"I sent one, too. What's so horrible about that?"

"For starters, it's inconsiderate, rude, self-"

"Miroku! Listen to me for one damn minute! I'm going to dance with her. Just on my own time."

"Why not now?"

"Because, Miroku, she's the one." Miroku just gave him an odd look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. She's the one. She's the girl I've been e-mailing. She's the real thing." Miroku stopped short.

"WHAT?" He hollered. Inuyasha gestured for him to be quiet.

"Keep it down. Kagome told me in an e-mail that she received a backstage pass from a friend for our tour finale. Guess who that was?" Miroku's mouth gaped open.

"Sango?"

"Yes. You're starting to see the full picture." Suddenly, a look passed over Miroku's face that Inuyasha hadn't seen in a long time. He was pissed off.

"What the hell are you doing now? Playing Operation: Play With Her Heart?" Inuyasha was taken aback. As soon as Miroku saw that expression, he knew that wasn't what he was doing.

"Do you seriously think I'd play with her for my own twisted amusement?" Miroku calmed himself down.

"I know you wouldn't do something like that. That was stupid of me."

"I was wanting to make sure that she can accept me as me. She knows me online. I've been completely honest with her online as well. But can she take the rock star?"

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha." He took a breath.

"Don't worry about it. We're bound to lose our tempers with each other at some point."

"Well, from what I've seen, she can accept both sides. When are you planning on comforting her?" Inuyasha looked at him.

"She's looking forward to meeting her online buddy at the concert, I'd hate for her to miss out on that."


	5. Chapter 5

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Five** _

**A/N: Are you enjoying it so far? You can let me know by way of review ;-) **

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* * *

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When they came back to the table, Sango looked at Miroku, sensing something was up.

"What was that all about?" Miroku just put on a dashing smile.

"Oh, something I'm not suppose to mention." As soon as he sat down, his arm went around her waist. In an almost involuntarily movement, she lean into him. The song that was playing came to an end. Inuyasha swallowed hard as he waiting for the next song to play. To his fortune, it wasn't one that he would want to remember as their first dance to. Kagome began to laugh.

"Can't believe they'd play Something Stupid here." Inuyasha wasn't really all that surprised. She knew so many bands and songs. It was almost like reading off his own personal collection at home.

"You know this song?" He asked. She nodded.

"My mom is a huge Sinatra fan." Souta nodded.

"One of my first loves in music. It's actually a fun song to play." Miroku looked at him.

"Really? Hm..." He said, rubbing his chin in thought. Kagome began humming along with the music. In unison, her and Souta began singing it.

"I practice everyday to find some clever lives to say to make the meaning come true.  
But then I think I'll wait until the evening, it's late an I'm alone with you.  
The time is right. Your perfume fills my head  
The stars get red and oh, the night so blue.  
But then, I go and spoil it all  
by saying something stupid like I love you."

The song broke down into a bridge as Kagome glanced over at Souta. "It's been a really long time." He nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, it has."

"You're voices blended quite well, I thought." Sango said.

"Thanks." Kagome said.

"Back in the day, she used to do back-up vocals with the band." Souta said. "We actually have a few songs together. I think I brought that old mix-tape of the original recordings." He said to Kagome.

"I bet they sound awful."

"The quality is awful. But as far as our voices go, you can tell that we matured since then, but it's not too horrible."

"We'll have to hear it sometime." Miroku said. Kagome shook her head.

"Not if I have anything to do with it." Miroku laughed. A new song began to play and almost immediately Miroku and Sango stood up as if with one mind, heading to the dance floor. Inuyasha immediately recognized the song and smiled lightly. He looked over at Kagome.

"Would you care to join me in a dance?" Kagome looked at Souta, who seemed passive, and back.

"Sure." Her voice was steady, but her heartbeat wasn't. He held out his hand to her and she took it. This time she didn't trip as he began to lead her to the dance floor. Inuyasha paused for a moment, turning to Souta.

"You don't mind being by yourself, do you?" He mocked. Souta sneered at him.

"Ha ha... Get out of here." Inuyasha laughed lightly. As soon as the step foot on the dance floor, he spun her, catching her in his arms. She had been caught by surprise, but found out that she liked it. He laughed at her surprise. They danced slowly, in smooth, even steps.

"Even though he doesn't act it, Souta really does like you."

"I can tell. He reminds me of myself at times. It's scary and funny all at once." His throat went dry as a nervous shiver went down his spine/ He hadn't felt like that since their first concert in an amphitheater, but yet he managed to hold his facade of calm.

"I love this song. The Cure is definitely at the top of my list of influences."

"They have many good songs. Just Like Heaven, Pictures of You, Friday I'm In Love..." She stopped there.

"So, where do you learn of all these bands?"

"My family throughly enjoys their music. Some older things I know by m parents. My grandparents liked the jazz and swing music. More recent stuff I'll learn about online or pick up the CD at the store. A friend of mine has really been influencing the music I've been listening to."

"Oh, did they introduce you to the Feudal Era?" He asked, changing up his dance steps at the same time. Kagome didn't miss a beat and stayed in step with him.

"No, that was completely me and Souta. Ever since we were young, we'd combine our allowances to get a new CD. We'd decide on who to get depending on if there as something that we both knew we wanted, but occasionally we'd pick up a CD of a band we never heard before. You guys were one of those wild card draws. It was monumental for both of us, since your first album hadn't became a hit when we first got it."

"Oh, I see." His eyes closed as the solo to the song came along. He pictured hitting the notes on guitar. As the verse came around, he began singing it.

"Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am young again.  
Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am clean again."

Kagome joined in singing the chorus when it came along.

"However far away, I will always love you.  
However long I stay, I will always love you.  
Whatever words I say, I will always love you.  
I will always love you."

The next solo came and Inuyasha looked down at the woman in his arms. Being there with her was like a dream come true. "Would you like to know a secret?" Inuyasha asked her. She looked at him.

"Are you allowed to tell me?" He shrugged.

"Depends. Will you tell anyone?" She shook her head. He pulled her closer, whispering in her ear. "We're preforming this song tomorrow. This is Sango's and Miroku's song.  
We're going to play it and he's going to announce their engagement." Kagome smiled.

"That's so sweet." He nodded in agreement.

"I'm thankful in a way that it'll be in the open. It's hard to hide things like that. He missed her so much while we were on tour. It got on my nerves once in a while." She laughed.

"That's so kind of you to say." He shrugged again.

"It's honest." The song was beginning to come to a climax as Kagome finally spotted the couple. They were completely oblivious to everything but each other's presence. Miroku whispered something into her ear. If it was possible, Sango's smile grew more and more radiant.

"I'm happy for them. I knew Miroku only by the things Sango told me about him... Or that's the only things I heard that I trusted anyways. I wondered if everything she told me about him was realistic. I can see for myself now that they were. He's the only one who can put a smile like that on her face." As the the song slowly faded, Inuyasha dipped her. Again, it wasn't something that she expected. She grabbed his shoulder for support as he chuckled lightly at her being startled. As he brought her back up, a couple thoughts passed through his head. Ignoring most of them, he decided to use one of them.

"Is there someone who does that for you?" He asked as they began walking back to the table. She turned to look at him, but they reached the table before she had time to ask what he meant. Her thoughts were disturbed by Sango and Miroku. She did notice Souta was missing. _Must have gone to the bathroom...  
_  
"We were talking about it and..." She stopped as she looked over at him. A smile played on her lips. He had one of the most charming smiles that Kagome had ever seen as he looked into her eyes. He finished for her.

"... We plan to be wed October 2nd." Kagome hugged Sango.

"Congratulations." She said, hugging Miroku in turn. Inuyasha took his turn and hugged Sango, offering his congratulations as well. Then he turned to Miroku.

"As much as it confuses the world, she appears to love you." He extended his hand to Miroku. As if they had the same thought, they did a rather complex secret handshake. Kagome just smiled at their friendship.

"Um... Kagome?"

"Yeah, Sango?"

"I have a question for you." Kagome nodded for her to continue. "Will you be my maid-of-honor?" A grin spread over Kagome's face. She nodded enthusiastically and hugged Sango again. Miroku looked over at Inuyasha. He had been watching Kagome rather closely. Miroku cleared his throat and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Best man?" He offered. Inuyasha returned the clap on the back with twice the force.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

All good things must come to an end. It was later than they realized whenever Miroku asked the waitress for the check. Whenever she brought it to the, Inuyasha quickly grabbed it before Miroku could. Miroku just looked at him inquisitively.

"Save it for the wedding expenses." Miroku sat back in shock, but nodded his head in approval.

"Alright. Thank you." It didn't seem like much longer, they were in the parking lot, saying their goodbyes as the group split.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Sango said as they took their leave. Miroku decided to take a different approach and bowed deeply.

"Know that my heart aches at your departure, but fear not. We shall meet again. Whether it's-" Kagome laughed at his performance as Sango smacked his shoulder.

"Do you have to be so dramatic about everything?" He looked at her.

"Yes, my sweet." She shook her head in amusement. Miroku decided to drop his act. "It was fun. We'll all have to get together again."

"Maybe the next time we won't play 20 questions." Souta said, looking over at Inuyasha. He just smirked.

"I'll catch up with you tomorrow." Inuyasha said. With that, they went their separate ways. Kagome and Souta followed Inuyasha to his car. Souta, who was showing signs of exhaustion, climbed into the back of the car. Kagome wasn't sure where to go. She didn't want to seem like she didn't like him, but at the same time, thought it might be awkward if she sat up front. Making a quick decision, she just sat up front. As soon as Inuyasha got situated and turned the key, loud music blasted out of this speakers. He laughed a little nervously and adjusted the volume to a suitable level. "Sorry about that."

"It actually answered a question I've always wanted to know." Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see if it was clear for him to back-out.

"What's that?"

"If musicians listen to their own music." Inuyasha laughed.

"I have been lately." He admitted as he backed out and shifted into drive. "I don't use a teleprompter on tour, so I have to memorize the lyrics. It's easy to forget them if you haven't played or listened to the song in a while. Which way should I turn?"

"Left. So, can you shed anymore light on tomorrow's show?"

"Do you want to know all of the surprises?" He asked. She thought about it.

"No, actually, I don't. There is a rumor that I'm curious about though."

"I can probably settle that for you."

"Are you recording the show to put onto DVD?" He laughed lightly.

"That's been going around? Hm... I wonder who leaked that information." He said, as if he didn't already know. "That's the plan. Hopefully everything goes fine so that it'll be a good capture."

"Capture?" Souta mumbled from the backseat. Kagome turned to look at him and laughed.

"Thought so. He's sleep-talking. On days like this, you can carry on conversations with him while he's asleep."

"I don't sleep-talk." He mumbled fiercely. Inuyasha decided to use this to his advantage.

"Souta?"

"Yeah?"

"What exactly do you think about me?" He asked. Kagome snickered behind her hand.

"I think that you are a..." Light snores took over. Inuyasha laughed.

"That's too bad. The poor guy just got in before he was dragged out." Kagome stopped for a moment. As she turned to him, her questioning look told him he made a slip-up.

"How'd you know he just got in?"

"Well, I gathered that by your conversation. Plus, I figured someone would have mentioned it to me that we've have another person at dinner unless it was a last minute thing."

"Oh." was all she said about it. Inuyasha sighed. All through dinner, no one slipped in calling him by his first name or he didn't say anything too suspicious that he couldn't cover-up. That was the first real screw-up for him. "Turn left up here on Madison." He got into the turning lane, but was stopped by a red light. "Thanks for everything. We both did appreciate it, uh..." She laughed lightly. "I guess I should say Dogboy, but it sounds a little odd." He laughed along with her, though he didn't like where that could lead to.

"I suppose it does sound odd. I got that nickname back in the high school days. Kouga (I assume you know who he is) and I were rivals back then. He gave me the nickname and it caught on. I despised it at first, but I kept it whenever we starting getting big. I guess it was my way of getting back at those who tried to smear it on me." They laughed lightly. He saw she was about to say something else, so he kept talking, hoping to chance the conversation with the next statement. "You never really had the chance to answer my question before." It changed the subject.

"Well, I guess it depends on what way you meant the question." The light turned green, so he continued driving after he made the turn, he looked over at her, catching her gaze.

"I think you know what I mean by it." She looked down.

"I know what you mean, but it's still complicated. Am I seeing anyone? No, I'm not. Is there anyone who can make me smile like that? The answer to that is yes." His eyes lit up  
a little bit.

"What would-" Souta's cell phone went off, interrupting the conversation and waking up Souta. _I wonder what he was going to ask._ Kagome thought as Souta checked the caller id and answered his phone.

"Hello?" There was a short pause. "It's a long story. I'm almost back at Kagome's place." They actually were there. Instead of interrupting, Kagome pointed at the parking lot and Inuyasha turned in. Souta sighed in frustration. "Sorry. I guess I'll get a cab." As Souta paused to listen, Inuyasha leaned over to Kagome.

"Which building is it?" He whispered.

"Third one on the right."

"No, mom. I haven't. I've been with Kagome all evening. You can ask her if my word isn't good enough for you." Souta snipped. Kagome knew exactly what that was about. He was hurt that she asked if he had been drinking. Souta's pause was much longer than before. Inuyasha pulled into the parking space. He, also, knew what that was about. His mother lost some trust in him. That probably hurt just as much as his heartache did. Finally, Souta sighed.

"I have to go. I'll see you ask soon as I get there." Souta's tone was sharp and booked no room for argument. On top of that, he hung up his phone, not wanting to hear anymore. They stepped out of the car. Kagome put a hand on Souta's shoulder.

"You can crash at my place tonight if you'd like."

"It's alright. She's worried with good reason and been waiting up for me." Kagome nodded, knowing what he meant by that. Inuyasha spoke up.

"How far is it?" They turned toward him.

"About 15 minutes or so."

"It'll take forever to get a cab over here at this time of night. I can take you if you'd like." Souta looked at him.

"Uh... Kay. Thanks." Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck, looking around.

"Don't mention it." He said. It was funny how in tune he was with her. Feeling her gaze upon him, he looked over at her. He was captured by her doe-like eyes. A shutter ran down his back. Thankfully, she took it for a shiver, though it wasn't the cold night air that made him shake.

"Sorry. I guess Souta needs a couple things from inside. Come on in." They followed her in. Souta wiped the sleep from his eyes and quickly grabbed the door before Kagome could reach it, holding it open for them. Inuyasha looked around the small apartment. It was a comfortable little place. She kept it tidy, maybe not spic and span though. As soon as you entered, the living room was dead ahead with a kitchen to the right, where the kitchen hit the living room was a hallway leading to the rest of the rooms. The first thing in the living room was the couch, next to it was an end table, in front was a coffee table. On the coffee table was her laptop. He noted with interest that it was opened to her e-mail. _So she sits down there when she gets in to see what 'Inuyasha' wrote her today. _He thought, unable to hide the smile playing on his lips. He laughed as he noted something else. _Lookie there. She has a new message in her inbox. _Souta headed off toward the bathroom to gather his belongings there. Inuyasha saw the corner where Souta's luggage was.

"Wow... He packs a lot. I don't know if I'll have room for all of this."

"It's alright. Some of it can stay here it's no trouble." He nodded. Kagome just looked over at him. She couldn't get over it. He was so familiar to her. Something about him just clicked. Once again, while she was looking at him, he looked over at her. She flushed lightly.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing." There was a short pause. "I don't want to seem weird or anything, but why are you being so- I don't know- generous with us?" He just looked at her, smiling ever-so-lightly.

"I guess it's just my nature. You'll learn more about that the more you get to know me."

"How do you know that we'll be around each other enough?"

"We're both in Sango and Miroku's wedding. That requires some time together." She nodded. That made sense. "Besides, it have a gut feeling about it." She turned to him once again. Her gaze became more intense with curiosity. Before she could say anything, Souta came out of the bathroom with a little bag with his toiletries." He unzipped one of the bags, setting them inside. Afterward, he hugged Kagome before doing anything else.

"I'll be seeing ya tomorrow." Kagome wasn't expecting the hug, but was glad he did it. She hugged him back.

"Yeah. See ya." Souta then grabbed as many bags as he could. Inuyasha followed suit, taking a hold of many bags. Kagome quickly grabbed the door for them. Souta went out first, not stopping for anything. Inuyasha paused as he passed her.

"I'm glad you two were able to make it tonight." He said, flashing a smile and nodding before following after Souta. Kagome closed the door after they were out of sight. Whenever you think of a rock star, it's almost automatic that you think of a rich, spoiled, jerk, who has nothing better to do that get drunk or high. He wasn't anything even similar to that. She went to the couch. _What is it about him that makes me feel like this? _Dazed, she absentmindedly reached for her laptop to find a sobering e-mail.

* * *

They dropped the bags into the back of the car, barely managing to fit them all in there. They got into the car and Souta turned to him. "Thank you. I do appreciate this."

"No problem, buddy." He said, inserting the key into the ignition of the car, turning it. It was quiet for quite a bit of the trip. It gave Inuyasha time to think about things and he came to a conclusion. He knew what he was going to do, but was unsure of the results. Glancing over, he saw Souta beginning to doze off again. "Hey! I need you to stay awake. I don't know exactly where I'm going."

"Alright, alright." Souta said, sitting up straight and rubbing his eyes.

"I know something that'll get those eyes open." Souta turned.

"What's that?" He asked, inquisitively.

"Listen to this. Since your doing to be there tomorrow, there's something that I think you should know ahead of time."

"What?"

"For starters, I know more about you than you think." Souta looked over, confused completely.

"How?"

"Well, I talk with Kagome... quite frequently."


	6. Chapter 6

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Six** _

  
Kagome,  
Sure. He just walked into the store, right? He doesn't exactly seem like the reading type. Just kidding you. Of course, I believe you. I trust you. I'm glad you got the chance to meet him, at least you didn't have to have a backstage pass for that. I don't know why. I guess that I'm hoping for a chance, but are you still unable to come? I want you to be there. Well, I better be going. My friend is staring me down with murder in his eyes. I have a feeling that if I don't quit now, you'll never hear from me again...  
Inuyasha 

Kagome hadn't realize at moment who she picture him as. It couldn't be possible. Dogboy Takashi and Inuyasha were not the same person. She put her head in her hands. _Oh, God. I can't feel like this about the both of them._ Her mind began to feud with itself, but was futile. _This is not happening to me. Why can't I just meet someone the normal way?_ She thought out why both were horrible choices. Either a mystery man, who she had no idea who he was or what he looked like. Or a famous rock star, who could easily have his choice of almost any woman. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ She clicked reply and sat at the computer, staring at the screen. _What should I do?  
_

* * *

"Oh shit!" Inuyasha cursed. Souta saw what it was that he was worried about. A mob of people down the street had recognized him. Inuyasha jumped in the driver's seat. Souta looked in through the passenger's side-window.

"Sorry about that - um-" Inuyasha just nodded, showing that he understood. "Thanks for the ride and helping me unload. I think you better get out of here." Inuyasha nodded.

"Thanks. See you later." He quickly peeled out, taking off down the road. Looking in the rear view mirror, he saw some of them jump on Souta, probably mistaking him for Miroku. Unfortunately, many of them jumped into their cars and began following him. _Oh, damn..._ He didn't know of anything else to do. He couldn't go to the hotel with them and all the hotels otherwise were probably booked full or would take too long to register for a room. They would easily just follow him to his room or bribe the front desk. He couldn't have stayed with Souta. That gave him one option. His mind filled with many curses. He didn't want to, but he was too low on fuel to outrun them. She was his only option at that point. It had been hard enough before, but now they'd be alone, one-on-one with no distractions. He wasn't too sure about it, but he had no choice. Last time he was mobbed, it turned out to be brutal. They didn't mean to, but there were just too many all tugging and pulling at him. He tried to out-maneuver them before he reached the apartment buildings, but all he managed was to gain some distance from them. He parked, jumping out, and made a mad dash to the front door. They were close enough that they saw what building he had gone into. He ran up the staircase, he was at least two floors up before he heard the pounding footsteps after him. When he reached her floor, he ran straight to her door and knocked hard and rapidly. The footsteps were coming closer and closer.

Closing his eyes, he silently whispered, "Come on. Come on, Kagome." Finally, he heard the doorknob click as she opened it. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw him. He didn't have any time to explain, just walked in and shut the door behind him, locking it for a security precaution. She was even more surprised and confused by his behavior. As she begin to open her mouth, he quickly pinned her against the wall, putting his hand lightly over her lips to signal for silence. She complied, but was caught unexpected by his proximity to her. He was breathing heavily from running, but as she heard voices in the hallway and what they were saying, she understood what was going on and he caught on that they didn't see where he had gone. Letting out his pent up breath, he then realized their positions. Immediately, he stepped back away from her. She quietly moved farther away from the door into the living room, gesturing for him to follow. They sat down on the couch. He took note that the computer wasn't in the same spot as before. She had read his message. He decided to take the initiative in speaking.

"I'm sorry about before." He said in a hushed tone. "I was saying my goodbyes to Souta when they came upon us. I didn't have anywhere else to go. I'm sure it looked good. Me barging in and locking the door behind me."

"It's alright. Just took me by surprise. I knew what was going on when I heard them talking in the hallway." There was a short pause. "This happen to you often?" He laughed lightly. She never seemed to run out of questions.

"In a way. Except I was on foot. That didn't turn out much worse than this one did." He said, turning to look at her. She gasped lightly, leaning in toward him.

"Did they do this?" She asked as she gently touched the black eye he had received from her brother. He just watched her. She had been concerned when she saw it. Her touch was enough to relieve the pain. It was so gentle, he could hardly even feel it. As response, he shrugged. "Do you know how long it'll take them to clear out?" He shrugged again.

"I'm not sure. They never taken it this far before. I don't want this to be awkward or anything, but um... is it alright if I stayed until they leave?" Her face became very serious. No one had stayed at her apartment that late at night besides Sango and that was only once while some repairs were going on at her own place. She'd never invited a guy over to her apartment before, especially someone that she was attracted too.

"No." Kagome said. Inuyasha did a re-take. He hadn't expected her to say no, though he did understand why she wouldn't want a man she didn't really know in her apartment that late at night. When he saw the corners of her mouth twitch in amusement and signs of her holding back laughter, they both laughed about it together. "For a moment there, I saw the 'Oh shit. What am I going to do now?' look written all over your face." She said between laughs. He just laughed harder after she said that. After they settled down, she spoke again. "My turn to repay you for your generosity. I wouldn't turn my back like that." He smiled.

"You had me seriously wondering there for a second, but I know you wouldn't do that." Their eyes locked once again that night. Kagome felt a zing run through her body to her stomach while Inuyasha felt another shiver down his spine. He managed to catch himself before he leaned in and kissed her, though he felt fairly sure that it was on her side too.

"So..." he said, clearing his throat. "... what do you do to pass the time?"

"I don't really have much of a life."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, I work two jobs. I go to work, then go to work. When I get home, I go to sleep so I can do it all again the next day."

"You must do something to help you unwind."

"Not really. Check the phone message and my e-mail."

"Ah ha! You're an internet person."

"Not really, just check my e-mail."

"Hm... Sounds to me like you have someone to speak with if you check it so frequently."

"Well, yeah. I suppose so. There's only three people that I talk with, but I suppose that it is my way of hanging out with people."

"Sending out love electronically." He said. "I know the feeling. While on tour, things are just so chaotic." He stopped for a moment. "You know. I think that I better tell Souta that I'm alright. Last thing he saw of me was being chased by that mob." He said, taking out his cell phone. Standing up, he went into the kitchen area for a little privacy.

* * *

"I can't believe this." Then there was crazed laughter.

"It's not funny." He said, running a hand down his face. "This is horrible..." He paused for a moment. "Actually, it's not horrible. It's just difficult not acting upon it whenever I think it's mutual between us. She's partially encouraging it."

"I wouldn't sat that, but I don't know since I'm not there to see it for myself. She's naturally like that. It's her personality."

"If that's the case, why aren't guys flocking to her?"

"There is. God, there is! It practically took a baseball bat to get some of them away from her. She's just - well- picky. No, that isn't the right word for it. She's only interested in a particular sort of guy. He can't be stereotyped. Let's just say she has the idea of who she'd like to be with and won't stand for anything less of that mark. Well, that's not quite right either." He growled lightly in frustration. "Let's just say she's complicated." He said, obviously finished trying to explain it.

"It's alright. I got the idea." He sighed. "I guess I better get back to her."

"Alright, but Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't break her heart."

"That's the farthest thing from my mind."

"Good. Well, good luck."

"Thanks. See ya."

* * *

Kagome never felt so odd in her life. The mob was still hanging about outside her door as she observed peering out the peek hole in the door. She sat down, confused about her situation. Inuyasha was still talking on his phone and appeared that he was going to be a while more. Kagome re-read the message once again. This time when she read it, she heard a voice in her head as if he was speaking it to her, but she never heard Inuyasha's voice before. She realized that it was replaced by the voice of another. It had been Dogboy Takashi's voice.

"Oh, God!" She exclaimed, almost slamming the laptop closed, She sat back on the couch, rubbing her face with both hands. With a frustrated sigh, she leaned back, allowing her head to fall back as well. Closing her eyes, she took a couple deep breaths to help calm her nerves. After a while, she could feel someones gaze upon her. Opening her eyes, she notice he was standing on the edge of the room, looking at her.

"Everything alright?" She smiled, trying to convince him as she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He walked over, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"You know, I can tell some thing's bothering you. Your face may smile, but your eyes are saying something else." She sighed.

"I'm just a little tired and confused about something all at once. That's never a good combination."

"Oh, I see..." He faded off for a moment. "I'm not distracting you from anything being here am I?"

"No. Nothing at all." He nodded.

"Alright. I'm sorry about this."

"It's alright. Don't worry about it." He creeped over to the window, facing the parking lot. A couple of people were standing by his car. He was alright with that until one of them began peeking in the window. "Damn their persistence."

"They're still hanging around, huh?" He nodded. Kagome bit her lip, but had made up her mind about it. "This may be a little awkward, but I can offer you the couch if you have to stay here overnight."

"Don't take this wrong, but unfortunately, I think that I may have to accept that offer."

"I'll go grab some extra blankets and a pillow or two for you." She said, heading off down the hallway. He watched her go and smiled to himself. She was in a state of confusion and nerves because of him. He couldn't help but find it cute. At the same time, he wanted to help her relax. He glanced around the living room and saw a deck of cards on the end table. That was as good as anything. She came back, her arms full of bedding. He quickly stood up and took them from her.

"Thank you." He said, setting them in the middle of the couch.

"I just realized that I haven't offered you anything to drink." He laughed lightly.

"I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

"Feel free to get something and the bathroom is the first door on the right."

"Okay." Nonchalantly, he picked up the deck of cards. "So, you're a card player?" She looked over at him.

"Oh, occasionally. I haven't played anything but solitaire for quite a while."

"I may not be any good myself, but if you want to play..." He drifted off. She smiled.

"Sure. I'll play a hand."

* * *

After quite a number of hands, Kagome began to wind down and tire out. Inuyasha was shuffling when he noticed her eyes begin to droop. "Hey." He said. She shook her head to try to rid the drowsiness.

"I'm alright."

"No, you're not. You need your rest." They all had finally cleared out of the building, but many were hanging around outside still. "Thanks for your hospitality. Is there anything I can do while I'm around?"

"No. This is payment for your generosity earlier." She said.

"There's no need to re-pay me. Either way, let's call us even." She nodded, hiding her yawn behind her hand. He stood up, helping her to her feet.

"Thanks."

"Listen. I have a busy day tomorrow. If I'm not here when you wake up, don't take it personally."

"Alright." She said, looking drowsily at him. He had a sudden impulse to breakdown and tell her everything right then, but he resisted.

"Well, this is goodnight, I guess." She said as she began heading to the bathroom. A tender smile came across his face as she was walking away.

"Goodnight, Kagome."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Seven** _

As he woke up, he couldn't recall exactly where he was, but as his senses began to return to him, he remembered. _Today's the big day..._ He thought. Her scent was all around him. Burying his head in the pillow, he breathed deeply taking it all in. He stood up and suddenly became aware of the fact that he had stripped off his clothes down to the bare essentials. Sleeping in slacks and a dress-shirt wasn't exactly comfortable. He stripped off the jacket, tie, and shirt, wearing the wife beater that he had on beneath. On the bottom, he just wore his boxers, but made sure that the blankets covered him while he slept. As quickly as he could, he put the slacks back on. After that, he put the dress-shirt back on, leaving a couple buttons at the top unbuttoned. He had no intention of putting the tie or jacket back on. He quietly headed toward the bathroom, when he saw Kagome's bedroom door cracked. _Did she leave for work already?_ Creeping down the hallway, he reached the bedroom door. Peeking in, he knew she hadn't even stirred from her sleep. Smiling lightly as he watched her form turn on her sleep. She laid on her back. The blankets covered her from feet to waist. The sun shined through the window from behind her bed, causing her to almost glow. Her hair was scattered all around her. She was beautiful. He didn't know how long he had been standing there, but whenever she began to show signs of waking, he slipped quietly and quickly down the hallway into the bathroom. He freshened up to the best of his ability without a toothbrush or anything. As he came out, he went back into the living room. There was some clattering coming from the kitchen, so he turned and saw she had gotten up. He noted with amusement that the first thing that she did was start a pot of coffee. She had her back turned toward him as she got two coffee mugs out of the cabin. As she turned around, she saw this form standing on the other side of the counter. 

"Oh... hey." She said as she set the mugs on the counter

"Good morning." He said. There was a quiet moment for quite a while, which was broken by a small laugh from Kagome.

"I'm sorry. I'm just not used to having someone here whenever I wake up."

"You see, I have the opposite problem. I'm too used to people being there whenever I wake up. There's not too many secrets between us on a tour bus." She smiled in amusement. As the the coffee pot slowly came to a halt, she turned around to get it.

"Coffee?" He nodded.

"Sure." As she poured the coffee, he went around the counter and stood next to her.

"I don't know how you take your coffee. There's creamer in the fridge and sugar in this bowl." She said, pointing to it. "Help yourself." She said, handing him a mug.

"Actually, I think I'll take it black this morning. Thank you." He said as he took the mug from her. They stood side-by-side as he drank his coffee and she prepared hers with  
a little creamer. As Kagome stirred the creamer into the coffee, she noticed his clothes.

"You didn't sleep in those, did you?" He looked down at himself.

"Oh, well, I have a shirt under this one. I slept in that."

"I could have offered you some clothes that Souta left behind."

"It's alright." He said, looking at the clock on the over behind her. He finished up his coffee. "Well, I better be on my way." He went to gather the rest of his items from the living room. "Thanks again for the use of your couch." He said. Kagome laughed lightly.

"No problem." He threw his jacket over his arm and headed for the door. "I'll see you a little later on." He reached for the doorknob. Even knowing that he had to leave, he didn't want to. Something compelled him just to tell her then and there. He looked over his shoulder at her, opening his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. He opened the door.

"I'll see you later, Kagome." With that he made a quick escape, Kagome found herself curious about what he was going to say.

* * *

He found himself grateful that he had decided to sign-in gor his room before he went to the bookshop they day before, or else he would have been in a pretty little position. As soon as he got up to his room, he showered and cleaned himself up. He felt even more renewed. After he had finished, he came out of the bathroom into his room, laying down on the bed for a moment to rest and think clearly. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before their was a knock at the door. Getting up, he went to the door and looked through the peephole. _Figures that he'd trial me..._ With that thought, he opened the door, trying to hit him with it, but he took a step back. Inuyasha just walked back into his room while the man managed to grab a hold of the door before it closed again.

"How'd you find me this time?"

"You leave a trial of mess everywhere you go that I usually have to take care of." Inuyasha didn't care to turn to face him, but he wasn't just going to leave his back turned either.

"What?" The man tossed an entertainment magazine to him. It was obvious from the cover. "Exclusive?" Inuyasha read out loud. "Of what?"

"Turn to page 13." Inuyasha did so. There was a long, twisted article about 'Dogboy' Takashi and his new 'mistress' as they termed her. Inuyasha was furious as he read on. They used many other terms for her.

"Those filthy little assholes." He growled.

"Is any of this true?"

"Listen up, you bastard of a brother, has there EVER been a 'mistress' whenever they've claimed that there was one?" Sesshomaru grunted, meaning 'no.'

"Don't worry about the article. I managed to stop it from going to press."

"How'd you do that?"

"The editor and chief of that filth called me and told me it was unfair that I had someone break the camera and threaten them." Inuyasha was now angry and confused. _Who did that?_ There was another knock at the door.

"Who is it now?" Sesshomaru took the liberty of answering the door to reveal a surprised Miroku and Sango. No greeting were even exchange before Sesshomaru pointed at Miroku.

"I need to speak with you privately." Miroku nodded. Sango let go of his arm, heading into the hotel room while Sesshomaru stepped into the hallway with Miroku. Inuyasha let out a frustrated growl at the whole affair, pacing back and forth in front of the window rather fast. Sango didn't say a word, sitting down at the end of the bed. All she did was raise an eyebrow in question and he responded.

"He just won't leave me alone." Inuyasha breathed, throwing the magazine into the trash can across the room.

"Nice throw." She commented, her voice was laced with laughter. "Just like old times. He still breaths down your neck and you still resent it."

"With every breath in my body."

"You know that he's going those things with good reasons. He's trying to help you. He's just going about it in- well, he's Sesshomaru."

"I know, but it's not like I need it anymore and right now, I- I just have a lot on my mind." Sango smiled lightly as he paced.

"Today's a big day for you. Between the concert and Kagome. How exactly are you planning on breaking it to her?" He stopped mid-step, looking rather ridiculous.

"I should have known that he'd tell you. He can't keep quiet about anything."

"It's a perk of being in a serious relationship." Sango stated. "I'm still confused as to how we didn't slip up last night in one way or another."

"I honestly don't know. It's a miracle." He said as he began to pace again, though this time it wasn't in anger, so it was slow, smooth, steady steps. "She's just- I don't exactly know how to put it into words."

"You're worried?" Sango offered. Inuyasha laughed at that. Only an trained ear would be able to tell the difference between amusement and his nervous laugh. Sango knew the difference. He stopped pacing, staring out the window instead.

"I've never been so unsure about anything in my life. What is I seriously screwed up? The last thing in the world that I would want to do is hurt her." Sango was surprised, not by the sediment, but about how open he was with her about it. His feelings used to be so locked away within himself that it was completely rare for him to open up. He'd made some changes in his life. He seemed more calm, rational, and much more open.

"Inuyasha, it comes with any type of relationship. Even the best of friends let each other down, but they don't let that stop them from being friends. The key is to forgive-and-forget and I know from personal experience, Kagome is the forgive-and-forget type. She's more forgiving than I am."

"Coming from you that means..." He turned to her. "... almost nothing." She was about to laugh until she noticed something.

"What happened?" Inuyasha was confused until she pointed at his eye.

"Oh, that! It's a good thing Sesshomaru didn't see it." Inuyasha said, raising a hand and rubbing it lightly. "That was Souta's reaction when I told him about everything."

"Everything?" Sango was surprised. "I have to admit, that was an extremely bold move."

"But it was necessary. I think it was better that I told him than to wait for him to figure it out later on."

"I guess, but it looks like he went a little over the top." Inuyasha shook his head in disagreement.

"He was testing me and giving me a warning shot at the same time." Inuyasha laughed lightly. "He reminds me of myself back in high school." Sango laughed at that.

"You know, that's true. I didn't really notice it, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense." There was a knock on the door once again. Sango knew who it was and went to the door, opening it enough to look out. Miroku put his hands on his hips.

"Okay, Sango dear, how long has this thing with Inuyasha been going on?" Sango shook her head, opening the door a little more.

"I'm sorry, but you know that the lead men always are more appealing." Miroku laughed straight out at that one.

"Come on! Let me in."

"What's the password?" Miroku pushed the door open a little more and kissed her. Sango just looked at him whenever he pulled away.

"Nope. Wrong password." She said, as she began to close the door on him. He quickly pushed the door open before it could completely shut and lock. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at them, turning away in disgust.

"What did he want?" He said, before they could continue with their flirting. Miroku looked at him.

"I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one." He was right. He didn't need another guess. It set him off again, pacing back and forth, muttering things like "That's none of his business" and "Let me run my own life."

"He did also mention something about the set list for tonight."

"For that, I was wanting to get all the guys together for. We have some things to discuss about that anyways." Inuyasha said, snapping into professional mode. "Oh, Sango? I was wondering if you could get Souta here early. We have to smuggle him in and since you have a security pass..." He faded off as Sango raised her hand.

"Say no more." He smiled at her.

"Thanks, if you need his number, let me know." Miroku looked up in interest.

"You swapped numbers? When did that happen?"

"After I told him who I was."

"How'd that turn out?" Inuyasha turned and faced him, showing his darkened eye. Miroku laughed hard, almost to the point of tears. "That is great." He said between laughs. After he had calmed down a little bit, he cleared his throat. "So, what did he say?"

"Well, after this warning shot, he asked why I hadn't come clean earlier. I told him about our plans to meet after the concert. I think he understood what I had in mind. We're cool." Miroku chuckled a little. Though he was still highly amused, his tone became serious.

"We have to do something about that eye. For the show at the very least. We probably should conceal it all day, if we can."

"Shit. I didn't think of that." Inuyasha admitted. Suddenly, he became aware of the smirk on Sango's face. "No. No way!"

"I don't see another option." Sango said. Miroku went into another spell of laughter.

"There's no other way?" Inuyasha asked, pleading. Miroku shook his head.

"Afraid not, buddy." He said, rubbing it in. Sango's smirk grew, Miroku laughed hard, and Inuyasha just sulked. Before anything else could be said, there was, yet again, another knock on the door.

"What is this, a convention?" Inuyasha asked, heading to the door.

"It's probably the guys." Miroku said. As if to prove his point, there stood the other two members of the band. They didn't even greet Inuyasha as both of their eyes went to Sango.

"Well, if it isn't the future Mrs. Houshi." Shippo said. Kouga looked over.

"Hey there, Sango. What's up?"

"Get in the room before continuing your greetings." Inuyasha said. They came into the room.

"No need to get gruffy, Dogboy." Kouga said, walking into the room. Shippo followed. Sango decided to answer his question.

"Fine. How're you boys doing?"

"Well, we made it through another tour without killing each other." Sango laughed.

"That's always good news."

"I have a question." Kouga said. "Why have you put up with that guy for so long?" He asked, pointing to Miroku.

"Well, you see he's like a little lost puppy. After a while of his devout following and begging, almost anyone would give in." Of course, everyone appreciated the comparison except Miroku. While they all laughed at his expense, he turned to her. She was waiting for him to do so and winked at him to show she didn't mean it that way. He smiled, showing he already knew that.

"Ha ha, fellas. Cool it. Sango dear, don't you have something better to do that pester me?"

"Nothing near as fun, but I suppose your right. I do have some things that need to get done." She said, standing to her feet. "I'll see you later, boys." Miroku followed her into the hallway briefly, leaving his foot in the door so it wouldn't lock on him. After a moment, he came back in, receiving looks from all the other men in the room. Before they could breath a word, he decided to talk first.

"Let's get to work."

* * *

With a sigh, she jumped out of the car and drug herself in through the diner's doors. It was the worst job. The bookstore was better in every way. Better pay, fun work, flexible hours, even easier to park at. As she clocked in, she thought of another aspect that was better. A good friend to talk with instead of an oblivious guy who wouldn't take a hint. Immediately, she went and grabbed an awaiting order. Looking at the ticket to confirm where it went, she put on a smile and delivered it to the awaiting costumer. When she returned, he noticed her.

"Higurashi! I didn't know you had this shift today." She put on the same smile she did for the costumers whenever she was having a bad day.

"Yeah, lucky me, huh?" He laughed, completely oblivious to the sarcasm in her voice.

"You could have gotten the lunch hour." She nodded.

"Looks like I missed the rush."

"Yep. It's extremely slow right now. I haven't gotten an order with the exception the the one in the front in fifteen minutes." _Great... a slow shift and I'm stuck with him._ She glanced down at her watch. _This may be a record. He hasn't asked me out yet_. "Hey, I was wondering. Have you heard about that new movie coming out with... Oh, what's his name?"

"Yeah. I know what your talking about." She said. She really did. He had talked about it non-stop for a couple days. _So much for his record..._

"Oh, well- um- I was just wondering if maybe you'd- um- like to go tonight." He asked, blushing furiously. Kagome forced herself not to roll her eyes. _Good God, man. Get a grip. We're not in high school._

"I'm sorry. I already made some plans for tonight." She almost wanted to straight-out lie and say that she was seeing someone. In fact, she wished that she had. She was seeing Inuyasha. That thought made her mind trace back to his last e-mail. She hadn't responded yet, she wasn't sure if she should.

"Um... Kagome?" She snapped back into then.

"Yes?"

"Is there someone else that you're interested in?" She sighed. _Actually, there's two..._

"Yes, Hojo. I'm so sorry." Seeing his expression, she had to say something else to him. "Don't get me wrong. You're a great guy, but in my eyes, you're just a friend. I hope that we can remain that." He looked at his feet as she spoke, but his head snapped back up as she finished.

"Of course, Higurashi!" He said, grinning like mad. She smiled back. _Hojo... you're such a dope._

* * *

It took two tries, but she finally got a hold of him. "Hello?"

"Hey. How's it going?" She asked as she heard an argument going on in the background.

"It's coming along, we're debating the set list." He took a moment to holler at them about something. "What's up?"

"I couldn't get a hold of Kagome, so I'll be needing Souta's number."

"Alright. Hang on." She could hear the beeps of him scrolling through his contacts. "Okay, it's 303-0311. Um..." He seemed to walk away from the noise and lowered his voice. "...do you know if Kagome replied to me? I know my e-mail's been lagging lately. She may have turned me down and this will all be over before it begins."

"I'll casually bring it up next time we talk." He sighed.

"Thank you." Sango heard Miroku yell for Inuyasha to get his ass back in there.

"Sure. I guess I better let you go."

"Yeah."

"Oh, tell Miroku that he better not ever say something like that to me." She could almost see Inuyasha's smirk.

"Do I have to put it that way? Can I twist it a little?" She laughed.

"Go ahead."

"Thanks again. I'll talk to you later." He said, hanging up right then. She laughed again while she dialed Souta's number while it was fresh in her head. After the second ring, he picked up.

"City morgue. You stab 'em, we slab 'em." She laughed a little, recalling Kagome's response when she used that on her.

"Lovely, Souta."

"Huh?" He was confused. He didn't think he knew who it was. Usually, he only used that line on numbers he didn't recognize.

"This is Sango." She said, clearing it up for him.

"Oh, hey." He said, still surprised.

"Hey. I was wondering what you were up to. In order to get you into the concert, we're going to have to take you in through the security gates in the back. I have a pass for it and was the only one who wasn't extremely busy with the show."

"Oh. Okay." He said as it began to make sense. "When do I need to be ready by?"

"Depends. Where are you at?"

"I'm at the house."

"I'm about 20 minutes away. Is that enough time?"

"Plenty. I better start getting ready, though."

"Alright. See you in a bit."

"See ya." Sango laughed lightly. _That was a little awkward._

* * *

Kagome looked at the clock. It was getting close to time to leave. She was getting more and more excited and anxious at the same time. It wasn't every day that things like that happened to you. She grabbed another order and delivered it to an older couple, who were regulars.

"Hello there. Here you are." She said, setting the tray down in front of them. "I hope everything is satisfactory."

"Oh, yes. Thank you, my dear." The older gentleman said.

"You're so kind and always have the sweetest smile on your face." His wife said. Kagome flushed lightly under their compliments.

"Thank you. If there's anything else I can get for you, you just let me know." She said as she slowly backed away. Looking over, she saw a costumer had let a table. She cleaned it up, happily taking the tip and putting it into her pocket. After wiping it down, she heard a voice from behind her.

"Higurashi." She knew that voice and tone. It wasn't looking good. Turning around only confirmed that it was her boss. _Oh, great._

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you working at your other job tonight?" She held back her grin. _Thank God, no!_

"No, sir."

"Good. I need you a little later on. Apparently, there's a big show tonight and things might get a little crazy around here."

"But sir-"

"Don't 'but sir' me. When you first came on here, you asked for as many hours as you could have. I'm trying to run a business here, Ms. Higurashi. I expect a little cooperation from my employees." Kagome opened her mouth. _This isn't happening._

"I'll take the hours, sir." Both of the turned to the young man who'd jumped in the conversation.

"You've already been here for seven hours, Mr. Shinta."

"With all due respect, I'm well aware of that." He looked between the two of them.

"Fine. I suggest, Ms. Higurashi, that you take consideration of his example. You may clock out and take your leave." He said. With that, he turned and walked into his small office in the back. Kagome had intended to march in there and tell him what she thought.

"Don't. He's not worth the breath." Hojo said from behind her.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

"You have plans. I don't. I'll clock you out, you don't have to stay in this hell-hole any longer." Kagome nodded, opening her mouth to say something else. "Go on now. Have fun." She kissed him on the cheek.

"You're a life-saver, Hojo." She said before taking off as fast as she could before something else happened.

**

* * *

AN: Is the anticipation building up yet? When is he going to tell her?**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Way I Feel Inside  
**_**Chapter Eight** _

"Hello?" Sango said as she picked up the ringing cell phone. 

"Hey. You called?" Kagome said.

"Yeah. I was curious if you were off yet. We were going to head to the concert a little early."

"Oh. Well, I just got off and have some things that I need to get done before I go. I had a close call at work."

"What happened?"

"He pulled the 'I expect your cooperation' card."

"Jerk-off." She muttered about him. "How'd you get out of it?"

"Hojo took the shift."

"Oh, he's saving up brownie points, huh?"

"No. He finally got the hint and asked me if there was someone else who I was interested in."

"And..."

"And I told him there was."

"Oh? And who is that? Mystery man?" Kagome sighed.

"I guess."

"I guess? Wait - there's someone else?"

"It's complicated. I can't explain it. Can we drop it for now?" Sango smiled. _He has her completely swept off her feet.  
_  
"For now. Out of curiosity, what did you say to Mr. Online?"

"I've been sitting in front of the computer figuring that out as we speak."

"Okay, good luck with that. We're pulling in the the arena now. I better let you go."

"Alright. See you in a while." She hung up. There was a moment of silence before Souta broke it.

"What exactly is he going to do?"

"Who? Inuyasha?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not exactly sure myself. I don't know if he even knows yet, but I'm sure he's going through every possible alternative he has to come up with a plan and back-up plan." Sango said as they pulled up the the security gate. Rolling down the window, she scanned the pass through a machine. The light blinked red a few times before turning green. The gates opened automatically so she went through them, hanging the security pass from her rear view mirror, authorizing her car to park in the back.

"Well, I can say one thing for the guy." Souta said as Sango parked.

"What's that?"

"He knows how to take a punch." She laughed as they stepped out of the car. Her smile soon faded as she heard cursing and screaming... and not all of it was Inuyasha.

"Something's not right." They followed the racket to a stair case running up to side of the stage. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what happened. The stage was a complete mess. Instruments and papers were all over the place. Three security guards were surrounding a man, who was taunting and threatening them. Inuyasha and Miroku were both nearby, extremely pissed off.

"YOU'RE FIRED!! Son of a bitch. I don't care how you do it. Tackle him, raze him, just get that asshole out of here." None of the guards made a move.

"Oh, hell. I'll do it." Inuyasha said, beginning to advance on the man. Whenever the man turned to face him was when Sango notice the knife in the man's hand. Her blood ran cold. _What if he hadn't gone after the equipment? What if he attacked them instead?_ Souta watched as Inuyasha continued forward, unphased by the weapon. He decided to get around to the other side, while the man's attention was focused on Inuyasha. The way the man held the blade was enough to tell them that he was skilled with it. The man leaped toward Inuyasha, who simply side-stepped him and at the same time kicked the man's hand, causing the blade to clatter to the ground. Miroku, swift on his feet, swept up the weapon. When the man turned, only to see the fist land on his eye. He stammered back. Suddenly, the guards became aware of their duties. They successfully captured the man.

"Get this bastard out of here." Inuyasha said. They obeyed his wish. Inuyasha turned to Souta.

"Seems to be your favored move." He said. Souta wasn't amused by the situation, but nodded in amusement. Miroku turned around as soon as he became aware of Souta's presence. Upon seeing Sango's whitened face, he raised his arms.

"No harm's done. It's alright. I'm-" He was cut off when she ran to him. He caught her in an embrace, holding her tight against him. Inuyasha turned away and Souta followed suit. He began noticing all the damage that was done. The entire guitar rack had been dumped over. All of the strings were cut on the guitars. As it fell, an acoustic guitar was smashed into bits. The others were surveying the damage to their instruments as well. Inuyasha was beyond mad and beyond pissed. It was their grand finale. The media, the crowds, everyone was going to be crawling all over this. It was to the point where he couldn't speak. Since he wasn't relieving his anger some way, his body began to twitch to try to relieve the stress. Letting out his pent-up breath, he began to nod.

"OK. Alright." He said as if he was acknowledging that it had happened. Taking a deep breath, he began to shout out orders to the crew and other band mates. As they all scattered to do what he assigned, he turned to Miroku.

"Is Hatchi here yet?"

"I don't believe so. Last I heard he was a couple minutes away." Miroku made sure that was all he wanted before running off on an errand of his own. Inuyasha looked around and saw everyone working, but Souta.

"I'll help out if you let me know what to do." Souta said. Inuyasha nodded gratefully.

"I could use some help over here. Let's see what we can use out of this." Souta nodded and began looking through the wreckage. He knew better than to say anything because of the unnatural shade of red Inuyasha's face had taken on. As they began to work, it began to fade little by little. After he seemed calmed down enough, Souta spoke up.

"Who was that?" He asked as took the cut strings out of one of the guitars.

"Our former guitar tech." Inuyasha said, muttering some more colorful terms about him under his breath.

"It seems like he didn't have much time. The only thing that seems unusable is-" Inuyasha groaned, looking at the remains of his acoustic.

"I know. That guitar was made to my exact specifications. It was my dream guitar since I was thirteen." Souta had know that already.

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to sue his ass for all he's worth, though I doubt it'll be very much." Souta couldn't laugh out loud, but he was highly amused.

"I meant - what about the show?" Inuyasha turned to him. There was a look in his eye that Souta couldn't specify.

"The show must go on." He said. A man came up from behind them, Souta saw him, but Inuyasha didn't. He followed Souta's gaze to the man.

"Thank God, you're here." He said, standing up.

"I heard the full story already. Just came to pick up my walkie. We shouldn't have to worry. I've been in worse situations than this. A friend of mine runs the local music place around here. He lent me some equipment in case some of ours is unusable." Souta could tell that he was a complete professional with years of experience. Visibly, Inuyasha calmed down after hearing it from him.

"What about the instruments?"

"We'll have to do our best with what we have. Is there anything we know for sure is broken?" Inuyasha pointed behind himself at the floor, not wanting to look again at the ruins of the guitar.

"Hm... Well, I think you'll have to cut all the acoustic from the set of improvise with electric." Souta suddenly got an idea, snapping his fingers.

"I think I can help you there." Both men turned to him. Hatchi was unsure, but impressed. Inuyasha was anxious to hear his suggestion. "Well, I have an acoustic that I left at Kagome's. It's not a customize PRS, but I built it to be a replica of yours. Visibly, it should be near perfect, but the sounds may be a little different since it's a mid-shallow instead of shallow." Both of them were now clearly impressed. Hatchi looked at Inuyasha, nodding.

"So long as he can be trusted, I think it's a good idea." Hatchi whispered. Inuyasha made no attempt to lower his voice.

"He can be trusted. I bet it'll be a perfect alternative." He said to Hatchi. He turned to Souta, looking him right in the eyes to show that he was serious. "Thank you. I owe you majorly already, Souta, but I have another favor to ask. Could you stay here and work as our guitar tech? I know it's last minute, but I'll double pay you for your troubles and-"

"I refuse to be paid for it, but I'll help you out." Souta said, surprised that he was now working for a man he had admired growing up.

"Well, we'll work that out later." Inuyasha said.

"There's just one thing." Hatchi said. "How is this guitar going to get here?" Inuyasha rubbed his chin.

"I could send Sango after it." Souta shook his head.

"No, don't bother. I'll have Kagome bring it." Inuyasha stopped short, hearing her name. He had been grateful when she didn't appear with Sango. Not that he didn't want to see her, but because it gave him less of a chance to screw things up.

"I guess that'll be alright." Souta took out his cell phone, heading off to another area for quieter surroundings. Hatchi was working on something with the gear whenever he spoke up.

"Who is that kid?"

"He's a friend of mine. Don't worry about him." Miroku came up onto the stage with Sango close behind him.

"Ah, you made it." Miroku said when he saw Hatchi. "What's the assessment?"

"Everything will be alright. Nothing seems to be majorly damaged to the point of canceling."

"That's good news."

"We'll have a better idea in an hour after everything is tested. That'll push you for soundcheck. The only thing that would hold the show back any has been taken care of." Miroku turned to Inuyasha, who nodded confirmation.

"That's great!" Hatchi stuck around just to make sure that was all, and then scuttled off to do something elsewhere. Around the same time, Souta came back.

"She was in the middle of an important e-mail and was a little fussy about her looks, which isn't unusual for formal occasions, but is a little odd for concerts." Inuyasha looked down at the guitar he was repairing, simply to hide his smile. "But she's bringing it as soon as she finishes up." Inuyasha forced himself to stop smiling as he was and looked up. It was just the four of them around.

"Now that all of you are gathered, I have something to say, or rather, ask." That grabbed all of their attentions instantly. "I want you to know that I've been weight the options and thinking every idea all the way through. I just have a feeling that if I'm around her for very long before the concert that I'll end up breaking down. Will you guys, please, do your best to make sure that I don't blow it?" Each one of them sported a different expression. Souta seemed convinced that he was suitable for his sister and that they had a good chance to make it together. Sango had one of those silly, girlish gleams in her eyes that she had whenever she thought something was cute or romantic. Miroku just chuckled.

"What you really mean is - 'please be my self-control?'" Sango laughed, turning to Souta and Miroku.

"May I wish you luck as we attempt this mission." Souta huffed lightly.

"I'm absolutely sure that won't be easy."

"I never said it would be." Inuyasha said, smiling lightly.

* * *

As she walked upon the stage, she was in shock. It was an absolute mess. Souta was in the middle of it, so she approached him.

"What happened?" Souta looked up.

"It's a long story." He said, taking the case from her hand. He set it on a cleared counter, opening it up to make sure it was there. "Thanks for bringing this."

"Where is everybody?"

"Busy. Miroku and In- 'Dogboy' are getting a second set of equipment in case something goes wrong. A sneaking suspicion tells me that Sango is with them. Kouga and Shippo are signing autographs out in front." Souta said. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out a walkie. "Calling 'Dogboy.' Come in. Over." Kagome just gave his a curious look. "It's a long story." He repeated. A voice came from the walkie.

"Yeah, Souta?"

"It's here."

"Alright. I'll be there in a minute. Over and out." Kagome laughed out of confusion.

"Well, where to start." Souta said. "As far as I'm involved, I'm the temporary guitar tech for the guys right now. The man who was working as their tech went physco and created his mess, trying to sabotage the show." He said. Souta saw Inuyasha peek his head out of the doorway behind Kagome, then it went back in the doorway. Then, he marched straight out as if he didn't have any idea she was there. Souta was grateful he didn't take too long to prep himself, because he didn't hear what Kagome had just said. Souta pointed to the guitar he had set onto the counter. Souta also noted, with amusement, that his black eye had been covered up. _I thought Sango was up to something._ A little confused again, she turned around and saw he had shown up.

"Oh, hey there." He nodded his greeting back with a grunt. Walking over to the table, he inspected the guitar.

"It's similar, but it's modified a little differently." Souta said. "I found the soundboard and inlays for cheap on EBay. They're from the same model yours was. As I said, it's only mid-depth. I sanded down the fretboard and buffed the shine on it." Inuyasha was still in surprise.

"It's almost it's twin." He reached to take it out.

"Watch out! If you drop and break this one, you really are screwed." Souta said as a smirk passed over his face. Inuyasha just shot him a look.

"I think I know that. Why don't you get to work, smart ass?" Kagome watched this exchanged. The insults weren't genuine. It was out of friendship, almost like the way her and Sango carried on at times. _They seemed to warm up to each other. _

"What happened exactly?" She asked. Inuyasha began playing one of their tunes. It was smooth and had a nice, full sound.

"Our former tech had been giving us trouble for a while now. We hired him for this tour only. The guy we usually have wife's had a baby and he wanted some time off. I have no idea what drove him to this, though."

"No idea? Are you sure?" Souta said. Inuyasha just glared.

"I thought I told you to get to work." Souta mock-saluted him.

"Yes, boss." Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he began working on a guitar nearby.

"Speaking of work, I better get back to it." He said, setting the guitar back into its case.

"What can I do to help?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha had avoided looking at her, but she was making it difficult. After working a job she absolutely hated, she was still willing to volunteer her time to give a helping hand. He did look at her. Their eyes managed to lock as they had the night before.

"Um..." Inuyasha forced himself to turn away.

"I can use some help over here." Souta jumped in, having enough amusement watching Inuyasha struggle. Inuyasha nodded gratefully to Souta before taking off to the other side of the stage where the audio booth was set up. They used his laptop for the special effect and added samples in their performance. He logged into the Internet. While it was connecting, he watched the Higurashi siblings. Both were working on the guitars, but it was obvious that Souta was telling the story of what he saw. Where he was, her back was to him. She was sitting on her feet. Her long, dark hair swayed with the slightest breeze that swept the stage, while her petite figure swayed as she tired to maintain her balance in that position. He shook his head. _Stay focused on the show. Everything else must wait until afterward. _He looked at his computer. In complete contradiction, he checked his e-mail, wondering what her response was. He was surprised to see he had no new messages. _Hm... it must still be lagging behind. _

* * *

Thirty minutes until they would start checking tickets and letting the crowds in and everything seemed to be running smoothly. All the instruments had been checked and set up in their positions. Everything was taken care of with the exception of soundcheck and small odds and ends. Sango had distracted Kagome by getting ready for the show. Inuyasha was grateful, because that would take quite a bit of time up. Souta had done his tasks and was helping out Hatchi and anyone else who needed a hand with their duties. _There's got to be some way that we can repay him for this._ Inuyasha thought as he watched Souta working with Hatchi back in the audio booth. Inuyasha looked around the stage when a thought occurred to him. He was both a guitarist and vocalist. It was too noisy to just call Souta over even though he was just a little distance away. He decided just to go to him instead. Before talking with him, he stopped off at his computer. The screen reported that there was no new messages. Inuyasha found himself nervous. _Did she answer at all? _Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that they had wrapped things up.

"Souta? Come over here for a second." He nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Listen. We're really switching up the set list tonight. Not the typical stuff that you'd see us doing. I was thinking, why don't we add a collaboration to the mix?" Souta just looked at him, wondering what he was getting at. Inuyasha just looked at him, waiting for it to sink in. After he sent him and inquisitive look, Souta caught on.

"Me?" Inuyasha nodded. "Oh, well, of course. I mean, it's a pleasure."

"Great." Inuyasha said, taking out his walkie. "All band members: report to center stage. Sound crew: Sound check in 15 minutes." He put the walkie back into the holder he had clipped onto his belt. "Is there any song in particular that you're more comfortable with or you'd like to join us on?" Souta knew immediately which one he'd prefer.  
"Are you playing 'Drive' tonight?" Inuyasha nodded. "I'm not sure if I play it the same way. I'm not sure how it'll sound either."

"We're doing plenty of improv tonight. It'll probably work fine. But maybe we'll run through it at soundcheck, just to make sure." Miroku showed up first.  
"What's up?" Inuyasha grinned, having a feeling he'd know how he'd respond.

"I added a little something to the set list." The response didn't come from Miroku, but Kouga who'd walked up to hear that.

"I thought we had enough surprises for today."

"Yeah. We're booked full as it is."

"It's nothing major. I was just thinking of how deep we'd be if Souta wasn't here." Miroku put an arm around Souta's shoulder.

"That's for sure. We really do appreciate it, bud." Before Souta could say anything back, Inuyasha finished,

"I invited him to play with us on 'Drive.' Any opposed?"

"I'm all for it." Shippo said.

"Hell yeah." Kouga said. They all waited for Miroku's input.

"Like I'd say no. Let's do this."

"Alright. It's settled then. We'll run through Drive for soundcheck. That way we'll kill two birds with one stone." Inuyasha pulled out his walkie again. "Sound check in 5." He reminded. Hatchi came out to his area, preparing for soundcheck. Inuyasha looked at the computer, deciding to check it one last time before the show. There was still no message. "Hatchi?"

"Yes?"

* * *

"I'm expecting an important e-mail. I'm going to leave it signed in. Will you check it for me from time-to-time? Even if it's in the show, signal me."

"Alright." By that time, many people where bustling around the stage, getting in their positions. Miroku jumped up onto the platform where the drums were.

"Alright, y'all. Listen up!" He hollered. They went silent, pausing at what they were doing. "We almost had to cancel this show tonight, but thanks to your hard work and dedication, we managed to get everything back in order and ready. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you for everything you've done. This is the final show of the tour, so let's end it on a positive note!" They all cheered and clapped at his little speech. After they had their fun, Inuyasha took the lead.

"In other orders, get to work! The sooner you started the sooner its done." Laughter streamed from the stage.

* * *

"Kagome, you're going to knock him dead tonight." Sango said, confidently. The more time that passed, the more Kagome questioned that. As they finished primping themselves, Kagome turned to her.

"What if he takes one look at me and leaves?"

"That's not going to happen."

"How can you be so sure?" Sango could have hit herself. She didn't necessarily say anything wrong, but her tone made it sound like she knew more about it than she let on. Even though that was the case, it was the last thing she wanted Kagome to think at that point.

"You said he's seen your picture, right?"

"Yeah."

"He already knows what you look like, Kagome."

"But what if he doesn't get my message in time?"

"He has a backstage pass. He'll come back anyways. I'm sure he'll recognize you."

"I guess so." Kagome said. Sango turned and looked her in the eye when she hear her start another "What if" question.

"Kagome, what is it really that's bothering you?"

"Oh, I don't know." Kagome said, finding her hands in her lap interesting all of a sudden.

"Like I've never heard that before. I've never heard you say 'what if' so often in your life. I know something is going on." Kagome looked up at her.

"Sango, I might be making the biggest mistake of my life."

"What makes you say that?" Sango asked, interested. She was caught a little off-guard by that.

"Well, what if- Oh, hell. There is too many what ifs." She said shaking her head at herself.

"Kagome, I first thought that I was making a mistake when I first talked to Miroku. Then, when I first realized I was attracted to him. Then when he asked me out, when we kissed for the first time, and when he proposed and I said yes. What if we don't make each other happy and don't realize it until it's too late?"

"That's not possible." Kagome said, switching from the one who needed comfort to the comforter. "You two are perfect for each other. I have no doubts about that."

"What if we fall out of love? What if when we grow older, we despised each other? What if- Do you see? As much doubt comes into our minds, we have to take a chance. The 'what ifs' of like can't take over. Love is all about risks. What matters is if you take that risk or not." Kagome smiled lightly.

"Thank you, Sango. I needed to hear that." Sango was about to say something when a loud drone blocked all sound.

"Sound check!" She yelled. "Are you ready?" Kagome nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go!" They made their way to the stage. By the time they arrived, it sounded more like music that a mass of loudness as they made their adjustments. Kagome was surprised to see Souta playing along with them. It soon came to a finish. As it did, they all met in the middle of the stage.

"Sounded great. What we'll do is have you do back-up vocals while Miroku is doing his verse. As far as the rest goes, you can jump in when you feel comfortable." Inuyasha said. Souta nodded. Kouga looked at Souta.

"I was really feeling that. I can't wait to preform with you. For that song, I'll start it, tapping the drum sticks in a one, two, one, two, three, four cue." The girls walked to the group. Miroku was the first to spot them.

"Ah ha! We're blessed to have such beautiful women in our audience tonight." He said, walking over and putting an arm around Sango's waist. Kagome just looked at Souta in curiosity. Since the guitar rack was right next to her, he went over to her, setting the guitar back.

"They wanted to repay me for helping them out and it was always a dream of mine to play with them. Who knew it'd actually happen?" Kagome thought something else was going on, but let it go. She was glad that it had happened for him. Since he'd been back, his attitude seemed to do a complete 360 from what it was.

"Congratulations." Inuyasha had been entranced by her since she had walked out. He was in complete awe of her. She was beautiful without all the make-up and dolling up. There was just something about that smile that only Souta could get from her. He could feel his heart leaping out of his chest. Fortunately, Miroku went and stood in his view as a warning. As Inuyasha became aware of everything around him again, he noted the security guard were taking their places. That meant that the gates were opening and they were going to be checking tickets. He went to the end of the stage where the security guards were.

"Excuse me." The majority of them turned.

"Yes, sir?" The one directly in front of him said.

"Do you see these three?" He asked, pointing at Sango, Kagome, and Souta. The guards nodded. "They're going to be right up from. The two girls have backstage passes and the man is part of our show. Anytime that they want to, let them come forward. Alright?"

"Yes, sir." Inuyasha nodded.

"Thanks. But there's no need to call me sir." The guard nodded, and returned to his duty. Inuyasha shrugged. "Souta, Kagome, Sango..." They looked up from the group chat that was going on. He waved them over. "I just had a talk with our friends here and let them know that you can come forward out of the crowd at anytime, but there's not a chance you can get those spots back once you leave them." They nodded, showing they understood. Inuyasha raised his voice. "Alright. It's time." Everyone began to scatter. Miroku crept up behind Sango and literally swept her off her feet from behind. She was completely unaware, and a little squeal issued from her lips. He laughed, gently lowering her from the stage. As they were face-to-face, Sango gave him a quick kiss. Miroku smiled as he let her go. As he walked back to soundcheck, he jumped up and clicked his heels together. Sango laughed.

"That man..." She muttered, under her breath even though she was smiling widely. She looked down at her engagement ring and grinned like a child in a candy store. Kagome smiled as she watched. They really were perfect for each other. _Will he be the one for me?_ She sighed. _There we go, back to square one: confusion._  
"Need help down?" A voice asked from behind her. Turning, she met the cause of all her confusion. She didn't want to say anything about it to anyone. It would sound like a childish crush on a celebrity.

"I think so. I could see this ending up badly if I tried it by myself." Inuyasha smiled, amused. He took a hold of her hands, helping her down. As her feet reached the ground, she looked up at him. He was crouched at the end of the stage.

"Thank you." He did a half smile, half smirk. It was his trademark on many magazines.

"Your welcome." Souta quickly delivered a swift warning to his backside. Inuyasha stood up, turning around to look at him. He just raised his hands in innocence. Inuyasha shook his head, walking over to the kicker.

"Drive is the fifth song. You'll have to be up here at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth." Souta gave a curt nod and jumped off stage. Inuyasha watched as they took their places on the other side of the rails. With a smile appearing on his face, he thought it'd be better if he got out of there before he said anything.

* * *

**AN: Alright. The next chapter starts the concert. I'm going to have I believe 8 songs. I'm going to try to find a way for you to hear the ones that I don't know if you've heard, or are least likely to have heard. If your interested, let me know by way of review or PM.**

Songs are:  
Tell Me Baby - Red Hot Chili Peppers  
Geeks Get The Girl - American Hi-Fi  
Love Song - The Cure (or 311)  
Drive - Incubus  
The Way I Feel Inside - The Zombies  
How Many Times - Zack Hexum  
Beautiful Disaster - 311  
Lovely Day - Lit

I believe those are all of them. I can't recall anymore right now. Let me know if your interested in hearing them. Cheers!!


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Alright, I found a way for you to listen to the songs if you'd like. I've uploaded them into a site. Go to the site noted in my bio near the bottom (it won't let me post it here) and click the song you want to hear. If you like it and want it for your collection, you can download it by clicking the Blue button on the right side, then the download option will appear. If you don't feel like going through all this trouble, you can probably find these songs on YouTube easily.

**

* * *

The Way I Feel Inside**  
_**Chapter Nine**_

The anticipation was so thick you could cut if with a knife. You could just feel the excitement from the crowds. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the performance. The band stood backstage at the doorways leading to the stage.

"Are you ready for this? Inuyasha asked the group. They all knew that each one of them was prepared and ready just to rock out. The time had finally come to do so. Inuyasha put a fist in, followed closely by Miroku, then Shippo, then Kouga.

"Let's do this!" Kouga said as they broke their fist apart. Hatchi came back.

"Every thing's ready. You know the drill." They nodded. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow of question to Hatchi, who shook his head. _No response, yet?_ Hatchi went back to his position on the stage. Inuyasha pulled out his walkie. "Alright, fellas. Let's roll." All the lights on the stage went out. The crowd got excited and began cheering as they followed the reflective tape to their positions. Inuyasha quickly set his water bottle and walkie down on the platform by Kouga's drums. Souta came over, with his guitar ready for him. Inuyasha nodded his thanks and stepped to up the microphone.

"How are you feeling, Santa Cruz?" The crowd roared. He let them cheer. Allowing a little time to make sure the others were in position. Amongst the cheering, he heard the slight tap of the drumsticks hitting a symbol. That was the cue. Everyone was ready. Then, Kouga did a count off. 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4. Miroku and Inuyasha began playing the soft intro as two spotlights landed on them. As the intro began to fade, so did the lights. Their was a brief period of pause before the song started in full with an eruption of light and sound. Shippo began slapping the bass, pumping up the crowd. Inuyasha stepped up to the microphone. _(Red hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby)_

"They come from every state to find.  
Some dreams were meant to be declined.  
Tell the man what did you have in mind.  
What have you come to do?  
No turning water into wine,  
No learning while your in the line.  
I'll take you to the broken sign.  
You see these lights are blue."

The crowds pushed forward and were interacting with the music. Some dancing, others jumping up and down. Inuyasha slung his guitar to where it laid across his back, pulling the microphone out of it's stand. He began moving around the stage.

"Come and get it, lost in the city limit.  
Say goodbye, cause they find a way to trim it.  
Everybody looking for a silly gimmick.  
Gotta get away can't take it for another minute.  
This town is made of many things,  
just look at what the current brings."

Inuyasha went back to his original position, setting the microphone back into it's holder.

"So high it's only promising  
This place was made for you."

Without touching his guitar, he used body motion alone to swing it back to his front. Catching it with ease, his fingers instantly went back to the right place. He began playing his part while singing the chorus. Miroku did his back-up vocals on the chorus.

"Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
where you want to go this time.  
Tell me lover, are you lonely?  
The thing we need is never  
all that hard to find."

Inuyasha lowered his voice so Miroku's was more dominant on the second part of the chorus.

"Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
where you want to go this time.  
You're so lovely, are you lonely?  
Giving up on the innocence  
You left behind."

As their routine called for, Inuyasha and Miroku turned towards each other as if they were dueling with guitars. Inuyasha strummed a high chord, and Miroku hit a higher chord. They did so again in turn. After Miroku did his second, Inuyasha raised a hand toward him as if to say 'you win' and turned back to the microphone. He glanced to see what Kagome, Sango, and Souta were doing. Whenever the crowds pushed forward, they found themselves squeezed against the rails, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"Some claim to have the fortitude.  
Too shrewd to blow the interlude.  
Sustaining pain to set the mood.  
Step out to be renewed."

He moved to the end of the stage, crouching down to where he was eye-level with the crowd, but mainly looked at the three that he knew as he deepened his voice for the next part.

"I move you like a baritone.  
Jungle brothers on the microphone.  
Getting over with the undertone.  
It's time to turn to stone."

He stood up and began shuffling his feet backwards as he did the next part.

"Chitty chitty baby  
when your nose in in the nitty gritty.  
Life could be a little sweet,  
but life could be a little shitty.  
What a pity, Boston and a Kansas City.  
Looking for a hundred,  
but only even found a fifty."

By the time he had finished he had shuffled back to his spot on the stage.

"Three fingers in the honeycomb,  
You ring just like a xylophone.  
Devoted to your chromosome.  
The day that you left home."

Inuyasha began playing his part for the chorus, but this time Miroku took the first part and Inuyasha the second.

"Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
Where you want to go this time.  
Tell me lover, are you lonely?  
The thing we need is never all that hard to find.

Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
Where you want to go this time.  
You're so lovely. Are you lonely?  
Giving up on the innocence you left behind."

This was where Miroku's guitar solo came in. He had no problem stepping up into the spotlight. He just had fun with it as he carried it away. This time, they both sang the chorus in prefect harmony.

"Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
Where you want to go this time.  
Tell me lover, are you lonely?  
The thing we need is never all that hard to find.

Tell me baby, what's your story?  
Where'd you come from and  
Where you want to go this time.  
You're so lovely. Are you lonely?  
Giving up on the innocence you left behind."

As the song slowly faded off, so did the lights. The crowd went crazy with applauding, screaming, cheering, whistling, and anything else they did to show their appreciation. The regular stage light came back on, revealing everyone on stage.

"Yeah!" Inuyasha hollered into the mic. "That's what I'm talking about." The noise level rose a notch. "I have a good feeling about this show." He said, stepping back a moment, so Miroku stepped up to his mic.

"It's great to be here tonight! We're not holding anything back tonight, y'all. If I may be so bold, we're going to put on one of the greatest shows this amphitheater ever beheld."

"And a lot of things you're going to see tonight, we haven't done before." Inuyasha added. That really set off the crowd. They stood back until it died down a little bit. "Also, we're going to be clarifying some rumors as we go. If you're with us, we'll continue on." Inuyasha said, flashing a grin. _Here it is. Let the show begin... _

Kagome couldn't help herself. They had prepared so well for this show. She hadn't felt such an adrenaline rush in a long time. So far, the set list seemed to have been created specifically for her. All her favorites and the ones she wanted to hear the most were begin played. The thing about it was it reminded her of many conversations she had with Inuyasha, she found herself looking around for someone with a Cure tee on, but hadn't seen a single one. She felt so odd, thinking about one guy, while staring at another one.

"Rumor 3." Inuyasha said after they finished a song. He paused a moment and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "This one I want to make perfectly clear. None of us are gay! That's so far from the truth. At least I can say for myself, I love women." Miroku was quick to add his say so.

"I'm right with you there." Some laughed, while others cheered.

"I'm going to be taking over guitar on this song and let Miroku take this one away." Inuyasha watched Kagome's face lighten up. It was in her top 5 favorite songs. Miroku grabbed his mic and went over to the keyboards that sat next to Kouga's drum platform. Once he situated himself, he nodded at Kouga who began on the drums. Miroku began playing the keyboard as he sang. _(American Hi-fi - Geeks Get The Girl)_

"Another Friday night to get the feeling right.  
At the bar when he sees her coming over.  
What you gonna do when she come up to you?  
Tongue-tied better get yourself together.  
_Pound another drink, to give him time to think.  
_What's your sign 'Hey, I think you know a friend of mine?'  
Of all the stupid lines, he'd ever heard.  
Wouldn't come to mind, he couldn't say a word."

Miroku got up from the keyboards, moving around the stage freely. He went and stood next to Inuyasha with the mic in hand. Right in front of him was Sango, who he apparently had her complete attention. To her, his voice was enough to sooth her, but whenever he sang, it was almost hypnotizing.

"Tonight, tonight. He's gonna get it right.  
Even losers can get lucky sometimes.  
All the freaks go on a winning streak.  
In a prefect world, all the geeks get the girls."

Miroku watched as Souta managed to sneak away without the girls noticing. Kagome was dancing as if no one was there, her smile told him that she was definitely enjoying this song. Sango was just watching him. He winked at her discreetly as he could from on stage, earning one of those irresistible smiles. Then, he quirked his eyebrow, causing her to laugh. He smiled and moved away towards the other side of the stage by Shippo.

"Got her holding steady, forgot her name already.  
Sweating hard, not a smooth operator.  
_She's got it going on, dancing to her favorite song._  
He's got the line, 'Is it your place or mine?'  
She turned and walked away.  
Where did he go wrong?  
Waiting by the car,  
she said 'What took you so long?'"

Miroku had looked towards Kouga, jumping up on the front of the platform, walking towards the keyboard as he sang.

"Tonight, tonight. He's gonna get it right.  
Even losers can get lucky sometimes.  
All the freaks go on a winning streak.  
In a prefect world, all the geeks get the girls."

Inuyasha should have been used to it by now, but solos always made him a little nervous. He was more of a rhythm guitarist. Since they were new strings, they were hard and not easy to bend at all, but he stepped forward into the spot light with a facade of ease and did the solo. He was grateful whenever it was over. Miroku had taken his place at the piano once again and everything went quiet but the keyboards and Miroku's vocals.

"The very next day, I guess she ran away.  
The one and only, and his bed's so lonely."

Inuyasha really hammered the guitar chord to contrast with the light piano strokes.

"She comes walking in. Coffee and a grin.  
Crazy as it seems, it wasn't just a dream.  
All around the world, the people shouted out.  
The geeks got the girl."

The song faded as did the lights, but Miroku just held the note while the crowds cheered crazily. The expected eruption came as the lights danced around and band finished up the song.

"Last night, he finally got it right.  
Even losers can get lucky sometimes.  
All the freaks go on a winning streak.  
Shouted all around the world cuz the geeks get the girls.

Last night, he finally got it right.  
Even losers can get lucky sometimes.  
All the freaks go on a winning streak.  
Shouted all around the world cuz the geeks get the girls.  
Shouted all around the world cuz the geeks get the girls."

Miroku blew out a breath as the lights faded out again. His warm-up song was over. Now was time for his real performance. Inuyasha looked over at him, making sure he was ready and wanted to do it. Miroku gave a short nod and Inuyasha stepped up to the microphone.

"Rumor 4." Inuyasha said as Miroku got back into his place with the guitar in hand. "Maybe the geeks get the girls, but they don't get super-models." The audience laughed. Everyone knew about that rumor. Miroku stepped up the the microphone, suddenly all the butterflies rushed to his stomach.

"Maybe not, but you want to know a secret?" He paused for effect and looked directly at Sango when he spoke again. "Before another album, tour, or anything, I'm going to marry the most beautiful girl that I've ever set eyes on." The audience cheered for him and his good news. It took a moment for it to register, but whenever it did, her eyes told him so. She was absolutely stunned, causing Miroku to laugh, though he forgot the microphone was still right ahead of him He wasn't aware of the fan girl pouting at his announcement, he was too concentrated on his number one fan. _He announced it?_ She thought, still in shock. _The media is going to be crawling all over this now. _That was the main reason why they had kept it quiet. She didn't realize how much it had bothered her to keep it quiet until it was out in the open. _Why did he change his mind?_

"She absolutely worth it." He said into the mic. He broke eye contact with her before he broke down completely. "She's here with us tonight and this one goes out to her." The lights died. Smoke bellowed out of machines they had placed behind Kouga's drum set. adding a special touch. Once again, Inuyasha did the back-up vocals while Miroku took the lead. Even though they added a little reggae sound and feel, Sango knew what song it was.

"I have to go up there to him." She said. Kagome looked around, but Souta was missing.

"Alright. Let's go." The climbed over the fence with the help of the already informed security guard, walking along the rails to the staircase leading up the side of the stage. Sango went to the tip of the shadows on the side of the stage while Kagome stayed farther back. Miroku smiled and turned to her as he sang. (_The Love Song - Originally by the Cure, but version played at concert is 311)_

"Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am home again.  
Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am whole again."

Inuyasha played the solo, soft and mellow. He was watching them with a slight smile on his face. They were his best friends in high school and beyond. Both of them loved each other ever since he could remember. He'd never seen a couple so completely dedicated to each other the way they were. He found himself thinking about a question. _Is she right for me?_

"Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am young again.  
Whenever I'm alone with you,  
you make me feel like I am fun again."

It came to the chorus and Inuyasha had to be careful with the vocals. Too much would ruin it, too little wouldn't have any effect.

"_However far away, _I will always love you.  
_However long I stay, _I will always love you.  
_Whatever words I say, _I will always love you.  
I will always love you."

Kagome was extremely touched by this performance. She couldn't imagine how Sango felt by it. Inuyasha had found that perfect place in pitch and volume to make the right effect. The harmony was perfect. She noticed the tender smile he had as he watched them, like a loyal proud friend. As the second solo came, Miroku took a step back turning to Sango. This was his solo. He didn't look at his guitar, but hit ever note perfectly. His eyes were on her, such a passion brewing within his gaze. Sango just stood there, in shock and in a trance. Kagome regretted that she was unable to see her face. After that solo, Miroku swung his guitar to his back. Taking the microphone out of it's holder, he went over to Sango, taking her in an embrace. She held onto him as he began swaying in a circle. When he needed to sing, he put his cheek next to her, holding the mic behind her back so he could sing it into her ear as if it was a secret.

"Whenever I'm alone _with you,  
you make me feel like I am free again.  
_Whenever I'm alone _with you,  
you make me feel like I am clean again._

_However far away, _I will always love you.  
_However long I stay, _I will always love you.  
_Whatever words I say, _I will always love you.  
I will always love you."

The crowd went wild with applause. Inuyasha blew out a breath, he was glad it was over himself. Kagome was looking at him when she saw movement out of the corner of her eyes. She looked at saw it was Souta, strapping on a guitar. Curious, she snuck around the shadows to him.

"What're you doing?"

"You'll see." was his only response. Souta saw Sango and Miroku were in an tight embrace. Kagome followed his gaze.

"That was the sweetest thing ever."

"I didn't see it all, but I heard it. That was a bold move." Kagome nodded as a thought entered her mind.

"I wonder if she'll kiss him. She's not too shy about it, but at a crowd this size, it makes me wonder."

"She'd better. That was the bravest thing a man could ever do." Souta got an idea. It was childish for sure, but it would probably catch on. He started at a low tone. "Kiss him, kiss him." He began chanting. Kagome laughed and followed his example. Kouga looked over and grinned. He joined in, then Hatchi, then Shippo. Pretty soon, the audience had caught on too. Inuyasha didn't chant, but he was encouraging it, waving his arms to get them all involved. Sango, who must have been in her own little world, suddenly became aware of everything and it showed. Her face turned red and she buried her head in Miroku's shoulder. He laughed lightly, in a way that informed Sango that something she did was cute to him. He tightened his grasp. whispering to her.

"I'm sorry. We have nothing to hide. It was stupid of me to ask you to keep it on a down-low in the first place. I have nothing to be ashamed of." She pulled back a little. His face held such sincerity, and at the same time, he seemed relieved. He noted her eyes were starting to water up. "I love you and this was the closest thing that I could do to shouting it from the rooftops. The-" He was cut off as she closed the gap between their lips as a tear rolled down her cheek. The audience went insane with cheering, as did everyone on the stage. Respectfully, Inuyasha looked away and saw the two Higurashi siblings standing a short distance away. It wasn't long before both of them looked away as well. Inuyasha nodded a greeting when they both looked over at him. Souta gave him a thumbs up, informing him he was ready to go. As Inuyasha stepped up to the mic, all the lights around him went out, the focus being on him again.

"So, how are we doing so far?" He asked the audience. Of course, they cheered. "You know- we almost had to cancel the show this morning. We had a real scare and thought we wouldn't be able to preform for you tonight." The crowd either 'oohed or 'booed. "I agree. No names being mentioned, but someone had trashed out equipment, but we said that this show was too special for us to let it go. There was one guy in particular that really helped us out. He wasn't on our crew, but he went out f his way to give us a hand and helped save the show. We invited him to play with us on this next one to extend our gratitude. Give it up for Souta Higurashi." Souta stepped out of the shadows, real cool about the whole thing. He even shook Inuyasha's hand as he went to the center stage. A glance told Souta that Miroku wasn't ready yet., so he stepped up to Inuyasha's microphone.

"Thank you. What do you think? Is there anywhere else you'd rather be tonight?" That provoked the reaction that it deserved. The roaring of the crowd seemed to get louder, even song. "I wouldn't either." He saw Miroku and Sango separated, but Miroku wasn't ready yet. "When they asked me what song I wanted to join them on, I chose this one because it has a very personal meaning to me. A while back, I couldn't escape alcohol. It got to a point where it was dangerous for myself and anyone around me. I scared my family badly, but they believed in me and trusted in me. Fortunately, I can saw I escaped it, but if I can be so bold, I'd like to dedicate this next one to them." Miroku had gotten in position again and gave them a nod, informing them they were ready. Kouga gave the count-off again. On the beat, Miroku and Souta began playing identical parts in prefect harmony. Souta stepped back to where he was perfectly between Inuyasha and Miroku. The bass and drums kicked in and as it came to that part, Inuyasha stepped up to the microphone. _(Incubus - Drive)_

"Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear.  
And I can't help but ask myself how much  
I let the fear take the wheel and steer.  
_It's driven me before,  
it seems to have a vague haunting mass appeal."_

Inuyasha looked over at Souta and waved him over to him and Souta made his way the best he could. Miroku and Inuyasha finished the pre-chorus out.

"_Lately I'm beginning to find that I  
Should be the one behind the wheel." _

Inuyasha and Souta shared a microphone as they all sang the chorus together. 

"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there.  
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.  
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. I'll be there."

Inuyasha stepped back away from the microphone so Souta and Miroku could do the next verse, but Souta had no idea, he'd be doing it alone.

"So, if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive.  
Will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?"

Inuyasha joined Souta, but kept watching Miroku as he continued playing. His microphone had blown out.

"_It's driven me before, seems to be the way  
that everyone else gets around.  
Lately, I'm beginning to find that  
when I drive myself...  
_My light is found."

Inuyasha let him sing that line alone. It had a lot of meaning behind it. Miroku had completely backed away from the microphone, showing that they'll have to do it alone for the rest of the song.

"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there.  
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.  
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. I'll be there."

Miroku and Souta dove into the solo, in the middle, Souta broke away, adding his own little touches instead of following Miroku. Miroku looked over at Souta. That hadn't been rehearsed, but it blended just right adding a special touch. Souta let Inuyasha sing the pre-chorus by himself and joined him for the final chorus.

"Would you choose water over wine  
Hold your own and drive?

Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there.  
With open arms and open eyes, yeah.  
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there. I'll be there."

Inuyasha took the mic from the stand. He yelled into the mic. "Come on. Help us out a little here." Then, he held the microphone towards the audience, letting them finish the song out. The crowd was loud, cheering and screaming when Miroku let Souta hit that last chord alone. Souta smiled and bowed towards the crowd. Inuyasha looked over at him as he put the guitar up. He waved Souta over to him putting an arm around his shoulder. "Souta Higurashi, y'all. Give it up." They cheered loudly. Only those who were on stage could hear the odd ringing, then a loud pop. It startled Kagome, who was standing right in front of the amplifier that blew. The lights went out and Hatchi immediately ran over to check it out.

"Miroku. Check it." Miroku strummed a little bit on the guitar, but no sound issued forth.

"Damn it." Inuyasha swore coming up. Souta was close behind.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Not exactly sure. It will take quite a bit of time to figure it out."

"Let's get the back-ups set then." Inuyasha said. "How long will that take?"

"A couple of minutes." Hatchi answered. Souta followed him.

"I'll give you a hand." Inuyasha started thinking. Another sound tech had set up a new microphone for Miroku and tested it. It was ready to go. Inuyasha turned to Miroku.

"I'll need you on the keyboards." He said.

"What're you going to do?"

"A little sneak peek." Miroku understood. Kouga heard and knew what that meant also. Shippo was looking over. Kouga mouthed it to him and he nodded. Inuyasha held the microphone up. "Sorry. We're having some technical problems. It's getting worked out, but we have no guitar at the moment. We haven't even recorded this little piece yet, so here's a glimpse of a song to come." Inuyasha could start the song on his own, since it was pretty much acapella at that time. _(The Zombies - The Way I Feel Inside)  
_

"Should I try to hide  
the way I feel inside?  
My heart - for you.  
Would you say that you  
would try to love me too?  
In your mine, could you ever be  
really close to me?  
I can tell the was you smile.  
If I feel that I could be certain  
then I'd say the thing I want to say tonight."

Miroku had switched the keyboards over so it had an organ sound and played along with his vocals. Inuyasha refused to look over and Miroku knew why. He had wrote this song for her.

"But til I can see  
that you really care for me.  
I would dream that  
someday you'll be really close to me.  
I can tell the way you smile.  
If I feel that I could be certain  
then I'd say the things I want to say tonight."

Inuyasha did glance over at Shippo. He had a little part written, very easy single notes. Shippo nodded, informing him that he would play it. Inuyasha's voice, the organ, and the very little bass was all that was in the song.

"But til I can see  
that you really care for me.  
I'll keep trying to hide  
the way I feel inside."

That was it except for Shippo's little bass ending. It was a simple, short, message. The crowd was quiet as it came to an end. Inuyasha wasn't sure how it had gone over. Then someone in the crowd yelled "That's awesome." and the whole crowd began roaring with applause. Inuyasha smiled.

"Thank you." He forced himself to turn around. He did his best to see her expression, without looking directly at her. She appeared to have liked it, clapping a little from the sidelines. Hatchi finished tweaking it a little bit and gave them a thumbs up. Miroku tested to see if everything worked and it did. Inuyasha nodded. _Good, let's get back to the show now._


	10. Chapter 10

**The Way I Feel Inside**  
_**Chapter Ten**_

After another hour of playing, the guys came back. They were drenched with sweat, but had smiles on their faces. Before anything could be said, Inuyasha began giving orders.

"Okay. Wardrobe, you have ten minutes." He said to his band mates. "Souta, I need the acoustic set up. Hatchi will help you with that." He began looking around. "Where's my water?" Sango rolled her eyes. Picking it up, she tossed it to him.

"Here you go, chief." He glared as he opened it and took a long drink. Another worker handed Inuyasha a clean shirt.

"What's going on?" Kagome asked.

"An encore." Inuyasha said, stripping off the shirt he had on, revealing a wife-beater and his extremely tone chest. She tried her best to ignore it, but when the wife-beater came off, she had difficulty. Sango was watching her face. _It's coming... I know it's close. Ah, there it is. _Kagome caught a hold of herself and realized for the first time in her life, she gawked. She was a little ashamed having done so. Her face grew red and even redder when she saw Sango's amused look. Fortunately, he had turned the other way. When he turned back around, he saw her face and watched her shuffle nervously on her feet. He knew what that was about. He gave her a curious smile and was about to say something whenever Souta came back.

"It's all set for you." Souta said. Hatchi came back a moment later.

"You have a message." Inuyasha almost cringed. He glanced to see if Kagome had a look of suspicion or shock, but Sango had been whispering something to her. He didn't think that she heard.

"Thanks. Can't check it now, though. As soon as I hit that stage, I better be ready to preform." The crowds began to cheer and get louder. Inuyasha smiled. _Not yet..._ He saw Souta had gone over and started talking with the girls, but he could tell that it was a different kind of conversation altogether. He wanted to chat with them, but decided against it.Instead, hewalked down the hallway to have a little more room. Realizing how much his feet began to hurt, he striped off his shoes and socks, setting them aside so no one would trip over them. Trying to find a way to settle his nerves a little, he began doing a couple stretches to work out the stress.Miroku had emerged from wardrobe, coming up from behind him.

"Not quite loud enough yet." He stated.

"They haven't started the chant yet."

"How're you doing?" Miroku asked. His eyes looked pointedly at Kagome for a moment.

"More nerve-racking that the show itself." Miroku laughed.

"I know this is going to sound stupid and impossible, but don't fret too much about it."

"You're right. Sounds impossible."

"Just another 15 minutes or so." Inuyasha let out a breath.

"I know. She's so-" The crowd began chanting their name. Inuyasha went to the doorway and looked out at the crowd. Since the others had stopped chatting and looked at them, Miroku clapped him on the back.

"I think you have this one in the bag." He said, with double meaning.

"I sure hope so." He said with a grin. He began to head out onto the stage whenever a voice stopped him.

"Hey." He turned to see her approaching him., like an untouchable dream. "Good luck." He nodded his thanks and smile mysteriously at her.

"Wait until you see the finale." He said. He smiled at er, winked, and then headed out onto the stage. Kagome was confused. He had been nervous with Miroku moments earlier, but switched to the careless performer almost instantly.

"Mood swings... and men say they're only feminine." Sango said, seeing her face. Kagome laughed.

"It's his stage persona." Miroku said, giving Sango a look about the mood swing comment. "He's the one that the media has most wrong about the band. He's not a womanizer, nor a playboy. Those are complete insults to him. He's nothing like that." Inuyasha's voice boomed over the crowds cheering and chants.

"More? You want more?" The already loud screams grew even louder. Miroku looked toward the stage.

"I'm curious how he's going to do with this. Let's go." They followed him in the shadows to where they had stood before. The entire stage was dark with the exception of the single spotlight on Inuyasha.

"I thought I'd give the guys a rest. They'll be out in a bit, but I wanted to try something new." He said. The spot light he was in went off. He quickly grabbed the acoustic and sat on the stool on the middle of the stage. The spotlight came on as he signaled he was ready. Souta quickly ran out and adjusted the mic so it was near to his mouth as he sat. Inuyasha thanked him before Souta came back to where the others were. He began playing on the acoustic. It's soft sound amplified his voice. _(Zack Hexum - How Many Times)_

"How many times will I fall in love today?  
So many things that I want are coming my way.  
These crushes abound but they only will stay for a day.  
So how many times will I fall in love this way?"

As he played, he thought about how much this song really meant to him. He'd written it about 6 months after they started talking. It didn't take long for him to see she was one of a kind. If there was a girl for him, she was it. Now that he had been with her, spoke to her, and really learned that she was for real, his feelings were amplified. All he could do is hope that she felt the same way about him. Instead of this causing him to lose focus, it doubled his effort and energy into the performance.

"And in my life I know  
there's just been one for me.  
Someday life will show  
where my next love will be,  
where my next true love will be."

Kagome let out a silent sigh. His voice as passion that he was pouring into this song was incredible. It was enough to lull the audience to sleep if it hadn't been for them being so into it. She closed her eyes, listening ever closer to the song.  
"How many times before I fall in love for real  
Maybe this one cause this one makes my head like a wheel  
and when is this love that will make me completely be me  
What makes these hazy hills hold so much mystery?"

Miroku wasn't surprised at all. Whether he was really feeling this one, or if it was Kagome's presence, or a little bit of both, he was pouring his heart out. Everything was completely and perfectly executed. He smiled lightly as Sango slowly backed up into him. He wrapped his arms around her. swaying ever-so-slightly from side to side.

"And in my life I know  
there's just been one for me.  
Someday life will show  
where my next love will be,  
where my next true love will be."

Sango had been surprised by his performance. It was so beautifully done. This performance was special and she had a good feeling she knew why. The acoustic alone made his voice resonate even more. It was definitely his best performance of the song.

"I'll look for you to break my heart if that will make me feel  
No more girls to play a part, I search for something real."

Souta felt the weigh of those words. Even though it was quite a while back, he couldn't escape what had happened. He accepted it, but he still had feelings for the girl who betrayed him. In time, he knew it would heal and the next time, he'd be certain that it wasn't artificial. It had to be 100 percent genuine. Inuyasha hit the next note change perfectly as he continued in the song.

"And in my life I know  
there's just been one for me.  
Someday life will show  
where my next love will be,  
where my next true love will be."

Inuyasha opened his eyes as the song came to an end, slowing it down.

"How many times will I fall in love today?"

Once again, the audience was in awe at the performance. The response was crazy. Inuyasha gave a small laugh as he backed away from the microphone. "That was surprisingly good." Kouga admitted from the sidelines. Miroku nodded in agreement. They clapped along with the audience. Inuyasha stood up from the stool and took a slightly bow. Kagome put two fingers in her mouth and let out a long whistle. He looked over. Seeing them cheering, he took another bow towards them and at the audience again. Souta suddenly became aware of his duties as the lights on the stage went out. He grabbed an electric and swapped it out with Inuyasha. As he grabbed the stool, he decided to say something.

"I can't say anything for sure, but I've been watching through-out the concert. I believe she's torn between her Inuyasha and 'Dogboy'. Let me be the first to offer my congratulations. I believe you have won her heart." With that, he took his leave with the items. Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a little energized by Souta's assessment of the situation.

"Yeah! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling really good right now." He announced to the crowd. They cheered. "Thank you all for being a part of this." The lights came on and showed the entire stage. The other band members took their positions once again. Each played a single note to inform them that they were ready. Once all three of them were heard, Inuyasha took a widespread stance, planting his feet of the ground, and began in intro. The crowd cheered, but you didn't hear it for very long, as the other came into the song. The lights went completely out after the intro and when they came back on, Miroku and Inuyasha had met halfway in between, facing each other as they played a complex piece.

"I think that this will be one of our legendary performances." Miroku said. Inuyasha nodded.

"I'm stoked at the response." It began to come to an end and Inuyasha backed off and headed for his mic. _(311 - Beautiful Disaster)_

"Today seems like a good day to burn a bridge or two.  
One with old wood creaking, burn away right on cue.  
I try to be not like that, _but some people really suck._  
Some people live for the axing, _chalk it up to bad luck."_

Inuyasha planted his feet and head banged over his guitar for that little portion.

"I know a drugstore cowgirl. so afraid of getting bored.  
She's always running from something, so many things ignored.  
I might do that stuff if, _it didn't make me feel like shit.  
_I'm on some old reality tip, _with so many trips in it._

Beautiful disaster- flying down the street again.  
_I tried to keep up, wore me out and left me ate up.  
_Now I wish you all the luck. You're a butterfly  
in the wind without a care.  
A pretty train crash to me and I can't care.  
I do, I don't, whatever."

Instead of planting his feet, this time Inuyasha jumped up and down as he played the next portion. The crowd followed his example, all of them jumping around. The harder interlude ended and the lights went down again. There was another solo and Inuyasha and Miroku met again.

"Can I ask you a question?" Inuyasha laughed.

"Interesting time to ask, but go ahead."

"What exactly do you feel for her?" Inuyasha looked over his shoulder at her. She was watching, her face lit up in excitement.

"I think I'm in love with her." He said. Miroku smiled.

"Your cue's up." Inuyasha glared before breaking away and getting back to his mic, just in the nick of time.

"I know a drugstore cowgirl, so afraid of getting bored.  
She's always running from something, so many things ignored.  
I try to be not like this, but I thought it'd make a good song.  
There's nothing to see, the show's over, _so people just move along._"

Inuyasha looked at Shippo, who was doing his own little thing, headbanging over his bass. Then, Kouga, who had that cocky air, threw his stick up and caught it again, not missing a beat. Then over to Miroku. There really wasn't a better group that he'd prefer to play with.

"Beautiful disaster - flying down the street again.  
I tried to keep up, you wore me out and left me ate up.  
Now I wish you all the luck, you're all butterflies  
in the wind without a care.  
a pretty train crash to me and I can't care.  
I do, I don't, whatever."

As the song came to an end, Inuyasha really began playing. He head banged as he spun in circles, then began to jump at the same time. As he hit the final note, he handed facing the crowd, holding his guitar up.

"Thank you." Miroku said.

"This one will be in our heart forever. Thank you for being a part of it." Inuyasha said, pausing a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow. "I'd like to thank everyone who came out here tonight. We couldn't do this without you. My band mates. The friends we have back here tonight. A special shout out to out crews and techs. Give a hand for all of them." The audience clapped and cheered. "We have one more for you tonight." He said. Souta came and collected his guitar, since he wouldn't need it. Inuyasha looked over at Miroku who started the song. Kouga and Shippo fell in their places. Inuyasha stepped in for his part as well. _(Lit - Lovely Day)_

"Shake it off and throw it.  
Roll it up and smoke it.  
No one knows-  
what it's worth or where it's going.  
Tired money makers, boring conservators.  
Keep it up, we all know  
where you blow it.

And now i live in a world I call my own.  
It's always nice when no ones home.  
Giving a time and place,  
but you _don't ask what it's for_."

Inuyasha looked out over the crowd. Their energy helped his own as they worked off of each other. It was a vicious cycle in all their shows, just continually flowed and now that it was coming to an end, everyone put forth the most energy the could. Miroku had been jumping up and down while hitting all of his riffs. Shippo was spinning circles, headbanging over the bass. Kouga was doing his thing, spinning the sticking between his fingers and throwing them into the air, catching them as they came back down. The audience responded by nodding their heads, singing along, jumping, moshing, crowd-surfing, and anything else they could think of.

"_It's another world  
But it's something more than ordinary  
Such a lovely day  
And it's nothing more than ordinary living_  
That you're living.

Waking up and rollin'  
Loaded up and flowing  
Creeping out, we all know  
Where you're going  
Trying to ignore it  
What you're looking for and no one knows  
What its worth, where it's going. Come on y'all."

Inuyasha held the mic out towards the crowd, letting them sing the pre-chorus with Miroku's help.

"And now I live in a world  
That I call my own  
It's always nice  
When no ones home  
Give it a time and a place  
If you don't ask what it's for."

Inuyasha flashed a grin and lipped the word "Beautiful" to them before continuing on himself.

"It's another world  
But it's _something more than ordinary_  
Such a lovely day  
And it's _nothing more than ordinary living  
_That you're living."

Miroku's solo came up. Inuyasha smirked as he went to Shippo's side of the stage. There was a large amplifier at the corner of the stage. Inuyasha climbed on top of it and raised his hands in the air. They roared. Inuyasha pointed at those directly in front of him. He needed their cooperation and attention if this was going to work. As the solo ended, he sang.

"And now I live in a world  
That I call my own  
It's always nice  
When no ones home  
Give it a time and a place  
If you _don't ask what it's for."_

With a deep breath, Inuyasha jumped off the speaker into the crowd, landing back first. He let out his breath when the people caught him and began passing him around.

"It's another world  
But _it's something more than ordinary_  
Such a lovely day  
And it's nothing more than ordinary."

He pointed back towards the stage and fortunately, the fans followed his wishes.

"It's another world  
But it's _something more than ordinary  
_Such a lovely day  
And it's _nothing more than ordinary living_."

He was made it back to the stage. A couple of the security guards helped him go from the crowd to the stage. The other band members were holding their notes until he had successfully made it back and was ready. Once he was into position, he raised his arms, causing the audience to cheer, but it was also a signal. When his arm dropped, they'd finish the song off. He paused for the audience and their cheering, but when it fell the band finished together.

"That you're living." Inuyasha sang for the last lyric if the show. After that, it was all over. Miroku stepped up to the mic.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight. I hope you had a great time. I know we did."

"We'll see you next time around. Until then." Inuyasha said. There was always promotional items from them to throw out. Kouga threw out his drum sticks and a couple drum heads. Shippo through out some signature pics. Miroku threw out some sticker packs, key chains, and other little things, while Inuyasha got the t-shirts and wristbands. It was a little harder, because he wanted to give the shirts to people who seemed that size. He was down to his last t-shirt and wristband when he saw a man who had been there all night with his little girl on his shoulders in the front. He quickly jumped down from the stage, security moved near him for precaution, but no one tried anything. He handed the shirt to the man. and putting the wristband on the little girls wrist. She blushed profusely at him, not saying a word. Inuyasha laughed lightly.

"Thank you. I really does mean a lot to her." The man said. Inuyasha nodded, patting the little girl's head.

"Be a good girl for your papa, alright?" She nodded shyly. Inuyasha smiled and looked at the man.

"Thanks for coming out tonight. Hope you enjoyed the show."

"I did. Very much so." He said. Inuyasha nodded his thanks and climbed back onstage.

"Thank you." A little voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw the little girl looking at him.

"You're welcome." He said, waving to her. As he turned around, he chuckled. As he began heading toward the doorway, he saw Kagome had been watching him from there. He paused, but quickly kept on going, hoping it wasn't long enough for her to take any notice. He proceeded trough the doorway, brushing past her.

"That was sweet of you." She said.

"Oh- uh. Thanks I guess." He was unsure of what to say, but he wasn't ready yet. "Sorry, but really want to get out of these clothes now and clean-up a bit."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Go ahead." He turned around and headed toward wardrobe. As soon as he opened the door, he was dragged inside and the door shut behind him.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us?" Shippo said. Kouga acted as if he didn't care, but he was listening rather intently. Inuyasha turned to Miroku, who began whistling as he turned the other way. _Should have known he'd tell._

"I thought things would be simpler with just the four of us knowing."

"Four?! There's four people who know besides us?" Inuyasha and Miroku both shushed him.

"Cool it, Shippo. We don't want to be overheard. Yes, four people. Myself, Miroku, you know if he knows, Sango knows, and Souta."

"Souta?" Kouga said in surprise.

"Yeah. I felt obligated to. He's her brother." That was when Miroku laughed and jumped in.

"He gave him a little warning shot to the eye."

"Like hell he did. If that was a warning, I don't want to see what he's like when he's serious." He said, covering up what was left of  
his pride before Kouga said anything.

"He hit you?" Inuyasha nodded.

"Why else would I allow Sango to put that crap all over my face?" Kouga smirked.

"One never knows..." They all laughed at his expense. Of course, he wasn't amused.

"Anyways," He said sharply. "I just wanted to keep it quiet until whatever happens with this happens. Any secret is more likely to slip with more people knowing and I was just being cautious. No hard feelings, right?" Shippo nodded and Kouga grunted. "Alright then. Now that you two are dressed, get out there before someone suspects some thing's going on." They both headed to the door.

"Okay, okay. No need to be such an-" Kouga was cut short as Inuyasha's shoe flew at him. He had to shut the door in order to block it. As he got changed, he thought of how he wanted to approach the matter. He had changed his jeans and wife-beater for clean ones. His eyes landed on the Cure shirt whenever a new idea came to mind. He immediately liked it and grabbed the shirt, leaving it in his hand as he walked out.

* * *

**AN: **All right, it's coming to an end. The next chapter is the finale. Thank you so much for the reviews and encouragement along the way. Cheers!! 


	11. Chapter 11

**The Way I Feel Inside**  
_**Chapter Eleven**_

She couldn't help that she was pacing, but she was starting to get nervous. It had been over 20 minutes since the show ended and no one had come by but the crew members. _Wait. What if he's one of the crew? It'd fit perfectly. Anyways on the road for work and been to so many shows he lost count. _Sango watched as Kagome paced. For a moment, she thought she might have put two and two together as she stopped suddenly, but then she shook her head and went right back at it. Sango smiled lightly. _Don't worry, Kagome. He'll be here soon enough. _Shippo and Kouga left the wardrobe about the same time and Miroku came out moments after them.

"Shut up, you two." He warned as they approached the awaiting group. They went quiet as they sat down in the chairs lining the hallway, but began whispering among themselves and looking at Kagome frequently. Miroku shook his head as he sat down next to Sango, pulling an arm around her shoulders.

"They know?" She whispered to him. He looked at her and nodded, taking a moment to kiss her cheek. Shippo looked at Kagome again.

"She's all nervous over him. She has no idea that he's not worth that." Kouga said. Shippo grinned.

"Why don't you go calm her down?" It was obviously a dare. Kouga just nodded, standing up.

"Did you enjoy the show, Sango and- um- sorry, I never did get your name." Kagome stopped pacing and looked toward him when she realised that he spoke to her.

"Hm. Oh, Kagome."

"Delighted. I hope that you enjoyed yourself tonight."

"Oh, yes. It was a blast. I've always heard that you put on a stellar live show."

"Oh?" Kouga said, leaning against the wall. "It was your first show?" While all this was going on, Shippo leaned over to Miroku.  
"Fifty bucks says Inuyasha freaks out when he sees this." Miroku shook his head.

"That's one bet that I'm going to have to pass on." They laughed secretly as they watched.

"Yes. unfortunately. I'll definately be catching more." She couldn't stand still. She kept shifting her weigh from one side to the other.

"If you let us know, I'm made sure that we play a song for ya." He said. Down the hall, the door opened. Miroku elbowed Shippo and nodded down the hall. Shippo turned in time to see Inuyasha freeze up. He snickered childishly. Inuyasha collected himself in time and shook his head. All of a sudden, a smirk passed over his face.

"Ooh, this is going to be good." Shippo said. Inuyasha pushed the wardrobe door open.

"Kouga?" Upon hearing his name, he turned around.

"Yeah?"

"You can't leave this mess in here." He said, looking into the room. Kouga, unbeknowst, fell for the trap.

"What mess?" He asked, walking down the hallway to the room. They both disappeared into the room. Shippo and Miroku were the only one's close enough to hear Kouga grunt. Inuyasha emerged from the room. As he passed, Shippo couldn't help himself.

"Where's Kouga?" Inuyasha smiled secretitively.

"Cleaning up his mess." He said. To that, they laughed outright. As Sango caught on, she shot him a look, to which he gave a guilty smile. Fortunately, Souta came from the stage area and took the seat next to Shippo. They began talking and Miroku and Sango began whispering to each other. Inuyasha took a moment to gather himself. She was pacing from the doorway leading to the stage, through the hall where everyone was sitting into another doorway. _She must be really nervous. _He looked out to the front of the stage. The lights were all down and the audience had cleared out. As he went over to his computer, his throat went dry. It was the moment of truth. He saw the message was in his imbox. Taking a deep breath, he opened it, reading it's contents.

Inuyasha,  
I have to say - meeting you is a big risk for me. It's not something that I'd usually do. I'm not really sure why I kept talking with you on the internet. That wasn't exactly normal for me either. But I feel like these chances must be taken. I don't know why, but there's something about this that makes me feel like everything will be okay. Due to an extreme streak of luck, I can make it to the show and my backstage pass is still open for me to take. I'm not quite sure what else to say, but I'll see you soon.

Kagome

Inuyasha thought his heart leaped out of his chest for a moment. She had accepted him, both as himself and the rockstar. He knew why she had to take the chance. It was the same in his case. It had to be taken, because there was a special bond between them that couldn't be broken by risks. With all the confidence in the world, he headed toward the doorway where she was pacing.

"Kagome?" She didn't hear him. He only came to two conclusions. Either the concert left her hearing temporarily limited or she was in a daze. He looked back and made sure the others weren't paying attention before he made a move. Seeing that they weren't paying any attention, he waited for the right moment and crossed her path. As she walked into him, he took a moment to steady her.

"Whoa. You alright?"

"Yeah. Sorry." He waved it off.

"It's no big deal. You sure you're okay? You look like you're expecting someone." She laughed lightly, not responding at all. It was a subtle hint. "So, did you enjoy the show?"

"Oh, yeah. It was awesome!" She said as she stopped pacing.

"What was your favorite part?"

"Oh, I can't pick. Your setlist tonight had all of my favorites."

"I thought you might enjoy that." He said. She looked at him, but shrugged it off. He looked down at the shirt in his hand, turning his back, he slid it on. When he turned around, she was looking up the hallway, expecting him to walk up at any moment. "Your brother did a good job. He seems to be doing a whole lot better." Kagome looked over at her brother, who was laughing at something Shippo had said.

"Definately. He had gone through such a rough time."

"I know. You told me." She looked directly at him. He thought she finally realised it.

"I did?" She asked. He nodded. "Oh- I don't remember that." _Oh, come on! I didn't think it was that hard to believe. _He tried to think of something else to throw out there.

"What do you think about the song we premiered? The demo."

"It was beautiful. I thought it sounded really good." Inuyasha took a breath.

"It's kind of funny. I wrote it about this girl that I've been chatting with. I'm not quite sure how she feels, though." He said, looking directly at her. _Well, now I know that it's not mutual between us. _Kagome thought.

"Why's that?"

"Kagome, I think you know how hard it is to know how someone feels about you when you can't see thier face." She just held an extremely confused. "It's hard reading emotions online, don't you think?" That hit her like a ton of bricks. She couldn't believe it for a moment. Taking a moment, she looked at his shirt to see the Cure written in big letters. All of those hints that he had been throwing out and she hadn't noticed. It was an overwhelming flood of emotions. She moved to say something, but her voice failed her. She managed to choke something out.

"Inuyasha?" He smiled down at her lightly. That was enough to confirm it for her. Suddenly, she felt limp and began to fall.

"Kagome!" That was when the others jumped up to thier feet. Souta was first at thier side. Inuyasha managed to catch her, putting an arm uner her knees and the other one held her into his chest.Her head fell into his chest, not that he minded, but everyone was now completely aware of them.

"Um- what should I do?" Miroku walked past them.

"This way. There's a cot in the VIP lounge." Miroku opened the door and held it open for him. He immediately set her down on the cot.

"Is she alright?"

"She'll be fine. She just fainted." Miroku informed. Souta moved to her side. Meanwhile, Kouga spoke up.

"Good job, Dogboy."

"It's not like I expected her to faint." Inuyasha said softly as his eyes landed on her form.

"For God's sake, Kouga." Sango said.

"What?" He said as if he didn't do anything. Sango rolled her eyes.

"I never even thought of her fainting. I visualized every other alternative, but I never thought she'd faint."

"That's because she's not the fainting type." Souta said. "She's fine. It'll pass in another minute or two."

"It was probably just the excitment of the show and the worry of you not showing up." Sango said, placing a hand on his shoulder. It didn't remain long. As soon as Miroku said she was starting to pull through, he immediately was at her side. He was watching her face intently. As soon as she opened her eyes, everyone heard his gasp. The first thing she saw was Inuyasha and Souta peering down at her.

"Is there something on my face?" A couple of them laughed. Souta and Inuyasha just smiled. "What happened?" Souta wanted to tell her that little bit of news.

"You fainted." He said, extremely amused by her reaction.

"I did what?"

"You fainted." Inuyasha repeated. She looked at him and then remembered what had happened.

"Inuyasha?" He smiled again.

"Sounds better than 'Dogboy,' doesn't it?" She moved to say something, but then stopped. Everyone's attention was on her at the moment. Her cheeks turn a faint pink as she blushed. He smiled light down at her, so no one else could see it. Suddenly, Sango caught a hold of herself.

"Alright! Everyone out!" There were a few groans, but Sango didn't care. "Go on. Nothing to see." She said. They began heading out the door. Souta was the last one, who stopped at the doorway, as Kagome suspected he would. She nodded at him, telling him it was alright. Souta smiled, nodding back, and leaving them to thier privacy. Inuyasha got up and went to the door, shutting it behind him. By the time he'd turned around, she was back on her feet again. Now that they both knew, neither one of them knew what to say, so they watched each other. Of course, the silence was broken my the more anxious of the two.

"Well?" Inuyasha said.

"Well?" She repeated him. He laughed lightly at himself. Talking had been hard before, but now it was like he was incapable of speech.

"So- uh..." He cleared his throat. "You feeling okay?" She nodded.

"Yeah." There was another silence, which didn't take too long to be broken. "I just have one question." He raised any eyebrow.

"Only one?" She stopped momentairly, but then continued, ignoring his comment.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner? You waited the entire time from the bookstore until now. Did you think that-" She had closed the space between them. He just wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace.

"It wasn't easy for me, you know." He whispered into her ear. A shiver ran down her spine. She returned his embrace, letting out a sigh of relief. In that moment, they both knew that it wasn't just an internet friendship, but much, much more than that.

* * *

As they came out of the room, it was completely silent. All of them just watched as Kagome came out, and then Inuyasha.Both had unreadable expressions. Naturally, Sango was the first to break the silence.

"So?" She said, waiting expectantly.

"So what?" Inuyasha said. He paused for a moment, but didn't allow anyone to speak. "You heard everything while you were listening at the door anyways, right?" Inuyasha didn't look at anyone's reponse, but Miroku. He was the one known to crack under pressure. His face gave it away.

"I swear I told them to let you have your space." Miroku said.

"You're pathetic."

"We didn't hear anything actually. We heard Kagome say something, but we didn't hear exactly what it was, so we went to the door." Sango admitted.

"I can't believe you, Sango." Kagome said.

"I might add that eavesdropping on you wasn't my idea." That surprised them.

"Who was it then?" All of them looked around, but there was one particular person that they all looked at at one point of another.

"Souta!" Kagome said. He raised his hands in defense.

"Now, Kagome-"

"You're unbelievable."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said, backing away slowly.

"You knew! What secrets have you been hiding from me?"

"Only the one about Inuyasha." She gave him a final glare before turning around. "Oh, and that dent in your old Civic. That _was _me." He said. Immediately after he spoke, he turned around and ran. Kagome immediately spun around and saw him running. She took off after him, screaming threats and names at him. He ran clear across the stage and took a flying leap off of it, over the rail. Even that didn't phase her as she followed him. Inuyasha made it to the doorway leading to the stage as he watched her chase him down. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he met this best friend, who was also watching the scene they were causing.

"I think that your going to have your hands full, buddy." He turned and watched as Kagome finally caught him.

"Miroku, I think your right."

* * *

**AN: **All right. I've made my decision. I'm working on the epilouge for the story right now and am going to try to make it a little lengthy for you. More details coming soon...


	12. Epilouge

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long for the ending. I believe this will be the end. As far as a sequel goes, I have an idea, but I don't think I will ever post it. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. I will upload the songs into the link on my bio shortly if you would like to listen to them.

**

* * *

**

**The Way I Feel Inside  
_Epilouge_**

It amazed him how everything turned out in the long run. Even in this, he had expected it to be difficult, but not that hard. He used to tease Miroku to no end about how he whined and went on about Sango when they were on tour. Now he was in the same situation. There was an unspoken support group, made up of Miroku and himself, the married band members. He chuckled out loud. _How things have changed._

His smile grew wider the closer he got to home. Somehow, his heart knew he was heading home to her. He used to hate the phrase "your better half," but now he understood exactly what that meant. Without her, he felt incomplete. _What a crazy chain of events... _So much had happened so fast. After they offically met, Souta moved back, Sango and Miroku married, they had thier own engagement and wedding, Kouga had found Ayame and they were becoming fairly serious. He smiled as he recalled different events, but his mind locked on a specific time.

***

_**Flashback:**_

He was nervous, almost embarassingly so. _I'm acting like such a school-boy right now,_ he thought as he felt the butterflies in his stomach. He tried to pull himself together, forcing on a calm facade. Souta didn't show it, but the poor boy was a wreck. Only those who knew him could tell though. Before going back to his band, Souta decided to brush up on his skills and perform solo for a while. He had done several acoustic shows in the area at bars, resturants, and clubs around the area, starting to develop a little following of his own. The local newspapers had even began noticing, writing articles on his shows in the entertainment section. When Souta came to him and asked if he would join him on-stage for a few songs, he couldn't refuse. Then, another idea came to him and after talking with Souta about it, they decided to put it into play. It wasn't the performance that made him so nervous. In fact, he was excited about it. It was the huge step that he was about to take. He knew that it was right. There was no better time.

_It's close._ He thought to himself. Peering out from around the curtian, he noted that everything was set for him. Glancing out, he also noticed that right up front in the crowd was thier little group of friends. Kagome was the one who caught his gaze. Something that he noticed about her right away was that she had a special smile for those who she loved. That smile was on her face as she watched Souta perform. When he was the one recieving that smile, he could feel his heart sing within his chest. There was nothing that he loved more. As Souta concluded the song, he shook his head to try to clear his thoughts. He flipped the microphone in his hand on. _Here we go..._

"Thank you." Souta said to those clapping in the audience. He glanced over as he took a sip of water, making sure that he was ready. Inuyasha nodded to him, so Souta turned back to the crowd. "I have a surprise for you tonight. I brought along a guest..." He didn't have to say more to get the crowd's attention. They were cheering loudly. He laughed a little. "So, I guess you heard about my show last night." They cheered more. "In that case-"

"Cut the chit-chat." Inuyasha said, stepping out. Thay actually wasn't planned. He usually would allow the banter to continue and anticipation to build, Inuyasha didn't think he could take the suspense of it anymore. There was an eruption of loud cheering.

"Dogboy Takashi." Souta announced, just in case some didn't know. He glared over at Inuyasha, who shrugged at him. Inuyasha took his seat on the stool next to Souta, putting the mic into the stand and adjusting it so it was the right height.

"I'll be joining for two songs tonight. The first one was written by this amazing guy I share stage with tonight." It was Souta's show. He was just along for the ride, doing back up vocals and second parts. Souta started the song on his acoustic. (311 - I'll Be Here A While)

"_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while_."

Souta took the first verse. Inuyasha looked out into the crowds, but as always, Kagome captured his attention. She caught his eye as well. She smiled lightly and winked at him. Her body was swaying to the guitar. Subconciously, his own body began making those same swaying moments, matching hers exactly.

"Far is solace in the maddening pace  
Sad state written on my face  
Not a tight rope walk but dance  
Uncertain game of chance  
But I'll see it through in time

_"I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while_."

The next verse was Inuyasha's. He leaned to the mic.

"And if a person place or thing can deliver  
I will quiver with delight  
Tempted by the hand that could  
Blind my vision and sight  
But at twenty years of age  
In frolic and in rage  
I will see it through in time.

_"I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
_I'll be here a while_."

The song broke down into the bridge. Souta closed his eyes as he played and sang. The delievery of this song was important. It needed to be felt. His voice took on a warn, calm tone as he finished it out.

"But the dawn has come into the endless night  
And everything's going to be all right  
But at thirty years of age  
Through frolic and in rage  
All regressed and healed in time

_"I'll be here a while _  
Ain't going nowhere  
Said I, said I, said I  
I will survive."

Inuyasha smiled over at Souta. That was completely heartfelt. To be honest, that was one of Inuyasha's favorite just of Souta's, but of all-time. The song showed both the hardship, but it also showed it gets better. It had a positive feeling. He was suddenly overwhelmed that he had the oppurtunity to perform that. Inuyasha clapped along with those in the audience. When Souta looked over, he smiled and nodded. _Good job, buddy. _It was as if that thought had been spoken. Souta nodded his thanks to him. As if they had a mental link, Inuyasha could feel Souta saying 'Your turn.' Inuyasha swallowed, taking a deep breath.

"Souta Higurashi, everybody." He said, allowing the audience to continue cheering. He was giving himself a few seconds to prepare himself. he let the breath he took out with a sigh. "We have another surprise for you. This next one is new. In fact, we wrote this song together one day. He had the tune and I had the lyrics." Inuyasha laughed lightly at himself, he just felt self-concious.

"Are you ok?" Souta whispered over to him.

"I'm fine. I'm ready to do this. Thanks though for everything."

"No problem. I'm actually happy to be a part of this. Just don't take too long. I don't want my fingers to be cramped up." Inuyasha smirked at him to which Souta groaned, automatically regretting giving him the idea.

"We called this one Collide." This song was Inuyasha's song to sing. The guitar was Souta's department. With a glare, Souta began to start playing. As the intro continued, Inuyasha felt slightly guilty. He reached over and put a hand on his shoulder to show he wouldn't torture him before singing. (Howie Day - Collide)

"The dawn is breaking  
A light shining through  
You're barely waking  
And I'm tangled up in you, yeah"

Inuyasha looked out into the audience to see some reactions. Among their group, there was a various set of reactions. Curiousity, surprise, suspicion. He swallowed and tried to keep himself from looking directly at her. He closed his eyes to help him focus on the song.

"I'm open, you're closed  
Where I follow, you'll go  
I worry I won't see your face  
Light up again

"Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills my mind  
I somehow find, you and I collide"

Kagome could already tell this song would become one of her favorites. _This is what they've been acting so sneaky about?_ It amused her they kept a new song so hush-hush. She was almost skeptical that was the only thing they were hiding. When Inuyasha looked at her from the stage, a warm, but panicked smile was on his face. _What is he so nervous about?_ She just watched him, trying to figure it out.

"I'm quiet, you know  
You make a first impression  
I've found I'm scared to know  
I'm _always on your mind  
_  
"Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
You somehow find, you and I collide."

A quick glance was all that was needed between them. Souta nodded as he the guitar work slowed down into the bridge. He looked over and smiled at Inuyasham who clapped him on the shoulder again. He took the mic from out of the stand, standing up.

"Don't stop here  
I've lost my place  
I'm close behind"

Inuyasha didn't look up as he headed to the front of the stage and got down. He took a deep breath as he walked to them. As soon as he could, he took a hold of Kagome's hand.

"What are you doing?" Looking around, Inuyasha spotted Miroku by her side, a knowing grin on his face. Inuyasha handed his mic to him, taking Kagome's other hand in his now free one. Looking into his eyes, she was still trying to figure it out. He laughed lightly at her. The realization hit when he dropped down on one knee.

"Well, uh..." He laughed again at both his brilliant start and her surprise. How could he resist surprising her when she looked at him like that! "You know I'm horrible at speaking words compared to what I can do writing them down, but there's some things that have to be vocalized. Kagome, I love you. I can not believe that it's only been a few years when it feels like you've been the from the beginning. So, what I would like to request from you is a new beginning, where we never have to be apart. I'm asking you for the honor, the privledge of being your husband." She was in shock. Her voice seemed to fail her. No sounds would issue forth, even though she was trying to speak. After a while, she managed to speak.

"Can't speak words, my eye." She said softly to herself, but he heard it. He couldn't help, but laugh at that.

"C'mon. It's not that hard to believe, is it?" Tears of joy were threatening to fall as she laughed at him. No one could doubt what her answer would be. Finally, she nodded at him.

"Yes." He smiled triumphantly. As he got to his feet, he pulled her into his arms. There was a loud cheer through the place. She buried her face in his chest hiding from the world from the world, comfortable and safe there in his embrace. "I mean, 'Yes, it's hard to believe.'" She stated, amusement evident in her tone. He laughed.

"That's too bad. You're stuck with me now." He said, kissing her temple once, feeling giddy. _I am such a school-boy._ He thought happily. Miroku materialized about of no where, pointing to the mic. He nodded, taking it with one hand. Inuyasha pulled away from her, so he could see her face. Several tears had fallen, but she never looked more beautiful. Still holding her with one arm, he brought the mic to his lips. Souta was relieved. He had been playing the same chord progession over and over again.

"Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the wrong words seem too rhyme  
Out of the doubt that fills your mind  
You finally find, you and I collide  
You finally find, you and I collide."

He leaned in so that they were cheek to cheek, his mouth close to her ear, whispering so that it was like a secret to only her.

"You finally find, you and I collide."

With that, he finished what he had started, capturing her lips with his own as if to seal the deal. The cheering erupted and could be heard from blocks away

***

In between reminising and finally being home, he was happy beyond words. Pulling into his driveway, he waited fot the door to open, to see her come out to meet him, but surprisingly he was disappointed. Curious, he was as quiet as he could be when he entered the house. He began searching the rooms, looking for her. He finally found her in thier bedroom. Poor girl. Must be wore out. He thought as he leaned against the door frame. She was curled up in bed. A small smile crept onto his face as he watched her sleep. Home sweet home.

He left quietly to clean himself up, but when he returned, she was still asleep. Moving to her side, he tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. For a moment, he thought she had woken up when she mumbled his name, but he found she was sound asleep. _She's dreaming about me. _He grinned to himself, loving that thought. Instead of waiting for her to wake up, he joined her. He crawled into his side of the bed, lightly wrapping an arm around her. She rolled over, cuddling into his warmth. Once again, he smiled as he found himself entranced by her once again. _I'm one lucky S.O.B. _Slowly, his eyes drifted shut as he joined her in dreams.

***

Her mind was fuzzy with sleep as her eyes slowly opened. At first, she wasn't sure what she was looking at. As she pulled away, blinking several times, she realised it was his shirt. It was him next to her, almost as if she never woke up from her dream. She examined his face. Soon enough, the fog that her sleep had caused lifted from her brain. _He's home at last. _Her heart swelled. Of course he wouldn't wake her up, he probably realized that if she was napping, she needed the rest. _Always considering me first._ She allowed her hand to lightly touch his cheek, as if to take his face at that moment into her memory. He responded to her touch, even though he seemed out of it. His lips kissed her hand, nuzzling it as a puppy would when it wanted attention. She almost laughed at the comparison. She was perfectly content laying next to him. Just to be in his presense was enough for her to feel safe and secure again. She found herself pondering what he was dreaming about when the doorbell rang. She grimaced as she looked at him. _Good. He didn't wake up. _As gently as she could, she removed herself quickly and headed to the front door, hoping to catch them before the doorbell rang again. She was sucessful. Opening the door, a young delievery man stood on the doorstep.

"Delievery for Inuyasha Takashi."

"Sure." She said, as she took the pen he offered. Signing the sheet, they exchanged the clipboard for the package. "Thank you. Have a good day." He smiled and tipped his hat before heading back to his truck. _This must be that custom pedal he's been waiting for. _Turning around, she was surprised to see him at the top of the stairs. She smiled warmly at him.

"I was hoping the doorbell didn't wake you." She said, walking up the stairs. "When did you get in?" He watched as she walked right past him into the living room.

"Not too long ago." He replied.

"Looks like you finally got that pedal you've been waiting for." She said, setting the package down. She hadn't heard him approach, so she was mildly surprised as one arm slipped around her waist, pulling her against him.

"Do you honestly think I give a damn about the package right now?" His voice was deeper than usual, gruff with sleep. She couldn't help the quiver than ran down her spine. He chuckled at her response, obviously finding it enjoyable.

"Inuyasha." She turned around to face him and he quickly took advantage of it, softly capturing her lips with his own. A swell of emotion built in her chest. She had missed him so much since the tour began. Of course, on the few days they played shows close-by, or if they had a rare day off in between shows, she joined him. But that just wasn't enough. His lips became for urgent. The kiss grew more passionate, more needy. She wasn't exactly sure when, for her head was swarming with various emotions and thoughts, but she found herself pinned in between him and the wall. She was torn. She didn't want to ruin this, but she tried to clear her desire away for the moment.

"Inuyasha!" She gasped against his lips. He began trailing kisses along her jawline.

"What?" He mumbled.

"We can't right now." He moved back down to her neck. Her control was slipping. It was already difficult enough without him completely ignoring her. _Maybe that's what he's thinking too. _She thought, knowing it probably was. He knew her limits and he loved pushing them.

"Inuyasha!"

"Yes, love?"

"Plans." She gasped, trying to keep the desire she felt out of her tone. She cleared her throat lightly. "We have plans." She elaborated, feeling a little more in control of her voice. He grumbled something, pulling away slightly so that he could look into her eyes.

"What plans?" He asked. _Because these pretty much were my plans._

"We're suppose to meet up with the others at Sango and Miroku's in an hour."

"Sango and Miroku's?" He asked. She nodded, confirming that was the plans. She saw a certain twinkle in his eye. Instead of pulling away, he moved to kiss again. Grinning against her lips, he said

"They can wait."


End file.
